Uproar over Abbey revamp delay

ARTS MINISTER John O’Donoghue was yesterday accused of foot-dragging in relation to the redevelopment of the Abbey Theatre.

In the Dáil yesterday, the Minister admitted that the international design competition for the new Abbey had yet to be launched, six months after the project on George’s Dock on the north quays in Dublin was given the green light.

He defended the delay on the basis that competitions of this nature were complex and took time to perfect.

He said the Office of Public Works was currently working on the detailed technical specifications for the competition.

He added that when a winning design was selected and a public-private partnership (PPP) was established it would take some 19 months to complete the project.

However, he refused to give any date in as to when that would commence.

Fine Gael’s arts spokesman Jimmy Denihan claimed that Mr O’Donoghue was being vague on plans and suggested it was being long-fingered by the Government.

“The impression was given last September that this design competition would commence immediately. When will the competition commence?” he asked.

He added: “This saga has been ongoing for the past ten years. The national theatre is operating in antiquated conditions which is not fair to the performers, artistic directors or patrons. It is time that the saga was brought to a close.”