Five ministers had role in Abbey plan

MINISTER FOR Culture Mary Hanafin is the fifth Cabinet member to examine the as yet unconcluded saga of whether the Abbey Theatre will move from its current Dublin city centre location, the Dáil has heard.

The cost to the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport alone for the proposal has so far reached €393,509.62 including design, engineering, architectural, financial and legal fees.

Fine Gael tourism spokesman Jimmy Deenihan appealed for the Minister to “if nothing else, reach a decision on whether the theatre should be relocated”. Ms Hanafin is the fifth minister for culture to deal with the issue following Síle de Valera, the late Séamus Brennan, Martin Cullen and John O’Donoghue.

A number of sites have been mentioned as possible locations including the GPO. Labour culture spokeswoman Mary Upton said the OPW had costs for the Grand Canal docks location proposal of €219,000.

She said surely the study of whether to relocate and where “must be almost complete”. The Minister said it would be a “number of weeks” before the final feasibility report on the GPO location was ready for submission to the Government.

Ms Upton suggested there was a “serious element of putting the cart before the horse” on the project. “Whoever decided to proceed with the feasibility study should first have considered whether we want the theatre to be relocated to the GPO.”