IN/0445

Prince's art raises cash for Omagh

A NEWRY woman last night splashed out £53,000 on a picture by the Prince of Wales at an auction in aid of victims of the Omagh bombing.
Founder of the Unislim empire Agnes McCourt bought the signed lithograph - one of 15 reproductions of a 1995 watercolour which was the focal point of the sale in Dublin.
Following the auction Ms McCourt said she would be hanging her purchase on her office wall in her home town. "I was happy to part with such a vast sum of money knowing that it was going to Omagh.
"But I always fancied having one of his pictures.The picture, entitled Windsor Castle, North Aspect, was sold at close to 18 times its standard retail price of up to £3,000.
It fetched more than double the sum bid for a work by Ireland's leading artist Louis le Brocquy, at £21,000.
More than £150,000 was raised in the event at the National Concert Hall.
The cash will be given immediately to the physiotherapy unit of the Tyrone County Hospital.