Shock waves ran through the Irish theatre world last night as it was revealed that the 2004 deficit at the Abbey Theatre was €1.85 million, double what had been forecast.
Managing director Brian Jackson has resigned and artistic director Ben Barnes has stepped aside. Meanwhile it has emerged that a site in Dublin’s Docklands is now a serious contender to become the new home for the Abbey Theatre following discussions and negotiations among officials and property experts.
During the preparation of draft annual accounts, it was discovered that the theatre’s financial reporting system was underrecording the emerging deficit for 2004. The deficit had been expected to be €.9 million but in fact is likely to be about €1.85 million.
After the error in financial reporting was discovered, managing director Brian Jackson offered his resignation, which was accepted by the board, a statement from chairwoman Eithne Healy said last night.
"In the light of these developments, and in the interests of the theatre, the outgoing artistic director, Ben Barnes, has offered to step aside for the remaining months of his term to facilitate an accelerated transition to the new management," she said. The board accepted the proposal, and invited Fiach MacConghail, who took over as director designate just last week, to assume executive management of the theatre immediately.
Mr Barnes will be available on a consultative basis to Mr MacConghail until the end of July, and Mr Jackson was asked to continue to facilitate the Abbey’s ongoing change programme, which he has agreed to do.
Ms Healy said the board will commission an independent consultant to review the Abbey’s accounting and financial control systems at management and governance level.
Meanwhile, the Dublin Docklands Development Authority is now putting forward proposals relating to a site for the new Abbey at George’s Dock, close to the International Financial Services Centre on the north side of the Liffey.
Staff from the authority have been holding discussions with the Office of Public Works (OPW) and the Department of the Arts about the site, and are to put forward final proposals about the site in the coming weeks.
It is now the only site being actively examined by the OPW as the Carlton site on O’Connell Street, seen by many as one of the best potential sites for the National Theatre, is unlikely to be available in the short term as cases over its control and ownership are still before the courts. The Docklands authority proposed a site in February, but the area of the site was too small for the Abbey project. It needs a minimum of 4,000 square metres to be a feasible development.
Minister for Arts John O’Donoghue has now been informed that the authority is confident it can put forward an amended proposal for a bigger site. Officials have privately described the new site as having "real potential", but that the department will have to await the amended proposals before taking negotiations any further.
However, Mr O’Donoghue is understood to be anxious to get a definitive workable proposal as soon as possible in the wake of four years of uncertainty surrounding the future of the Abbey’s location.