Private partners proposed for Abbey

ARTS Minister John O'Donoghue is to seek Government approval for a public-private partnership scheme to help fund the re-building of the Abbey Theatre.

Mr O'Donoghue said a new national theatre, probably on the centre-city site of the current one, is a major priority for his term as minister responsible for the arts.

The Minister said the current government financial situation makes the need to involve private investment all the more crucial.

But he insists this will not undermine the national status of the theatre.

He said details are yet to be finalised on the model for the public-private arrangement. But he said a method would be found to allow private investors to recoup their investments.

The Minister said within the next few weeks he will seek Government approval in principle so he can begin the trawl for private investors in the Abbey project

"It is important we start looking for expressions of interest," he said.

The Minister's comments about the Abbey will renew concerns in the arts community about the national theatre's fate.

Earlier this year, Mr O'Donoghue's predecessor, Sile de Valera, rejected a move by the Abbey board to relocate from its current site just north of the Liffey and also brushed aside efforts to re-locate it on O'Connell at the site of the former Carlton Cinema.

Mr O'Donoghue said he wants the Abbey's role in showcasing national culture developed to the full.

He was unable to offer an estimate of costs, put by other observers at somewhere between 100m and 200m, depending on whether adjoining properties are bought to expand the current cramped site.

The Minister also said it is too early to say what kind of time scale wi involved. It is most unlikely, however, the project can be completed in time for the centenary of the theatre in 2004.

But Mr O'Donoghue said he wants another centenary, that of James Joyce's Bloomsday, fully celebrated in 2004.

He expects to announce an expert committee also in the next few weeks which he hopes will include Joycean scholar Senator David Norris.

The Minister said his ambitions for his other areas of responsibility include building a conference centre in Dublin to boost tourism and the success of the 2008 European football championships in sport.