Morlan

Troubled Abbey Theatre gets €4m lifeline from Irish government

Christmas has come early for Dublin’s Abbey Theatre. After a period of financial disasters, resignations and box office flops that has seen Ireland’s national theatre plunging ever more deeply into the red, Irish arts minister John O’Donoghue this month approved a one-off €4m aid package for the troubled venue. The money will allow the Abbey to wipe out its debts – which now total around €3.4m – and start 2006 with a clean slate.

The spectacular turnaround in the Abbey’s fortunes is largely due to an aggressive modernisation programme led by Fiach MacConghail, a former adviser to O’Donoghue who took over as the Abbey’s director in May after the resignation of managing director Brian Jackson and the departure of artistic director Ben Barnes. Under MacConghail’s leadership, the Abbey has seen a radical restructuring of its administration and a complete overhaul of accounting practices.

“I believe in the tooth fairy and Santa Claus now,” MacConghail told the Guardian. “The Arts Council set the board and the executive clear targets. They were tough to meet and we met them. But it was a white-knuckle ride.”

The announcement has boosted morale at the theatre, where plans are underway for a relocation to a new building in Dublin’s Docklands area. However, MacConghail has warned that the theatre’s annual state funding will have to increase in order to prevent it from falling back into deficit.

“The Abbey has now become more accountable and more transparent in the way it does business,” he said. “What will stop it going into debt in the future is a reasonable subsidy from the Arts Council.”

The Abbey’s spiralling financial crisis began in 2004, its centenary year, when a programme marking the 100th anniversary of founder WB Yeats suffered catastrophic box office returns. This year it emerged that the company had lost €1.85m in 2004, almost double the figure first reported.

“Clearing the deficit has shown great confidence,” MacConghail said. “Culturally speaking, the Abbey Theatre is very much locked into the psyche of the Irish nation. It’s in our DNA.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/story/0,11711,1671122,00.html

Didn’t they get the go ahead to raise the height of the U2 tower to 100 meters?

@Graham Hickey wrote:

I dare you to advocate cables in front of her face – look at her there, shivering in the corner. How could you be so cruel to such a defenceless creature?

🙂

The magic of Photoshop!

As I mentioned before, they already had an opportunity to build high-density away from historical Dublin in the docklands. What we have now is an new Sandyford.

Got it now, thanks.

😡 Yeah, I noticed these too. Ridiculous that they slapped a parking sign onto one of them. It looks terrible.

It shows a complete a lack of respect for the city by the council.

A few others I can thing of that piss me off. Wrong bulbs in the O’Connell Bridge lights, the deterioration of the Kiosks on Grattan Bridge, contractors digging up newly tarmaced roads and leaving them in a complete state. The list is endless.

Yep, any excuse for a quick photoshop. 🙂

There’s the Dublin City Hall made completly out of LEGO in Ballyfermot Library. It’s got to be seen to be belived. It’s huge. Must get a photo on Monday,

Yeah, good shot Graham. Living on the southside, it’s more difficult to get good sunset/rise from this angle. Good work man.

Oooh, one of yours Graham??

@PTB wrote:

Thats the idea. What tourist shop would sell a model of a power station?

I’d buy one if they existed 🙂

The Eiffel tower is impressive.. O’Connell’s pole is not.

Anyway, The Ha’penny Bridge is the Dublin City icon.

You have one don’t you Graham? :p