Irish taxpayers arefunding great productions, yet it istheatre-goers abroad who reap the benefits.Why should regional audiences have to buy airline tickets to see these shows, asks Louise Donlon

One morning last week, a customer approached the box office at the Dunamaise Arts Centre in Portlaoise, having just received the venue's programme of events for the coming months. As a theatre-goer, she expressed her disappointment at the dearth of theatre programmed, in contrast to the plethora of music performances and wondered why this is the case. She is not alone. Her question is being asked by audiences and venue managers throughout the country with increasing concern.

As has been heavily publicised recently, 10 Irish companies were, between them, awarded €325,000 by Culture Ireland to perform at the Edinburgh Festival. The rave review in last weekend's Observer for Rough Magic's Improbable Frequency vindicates this support.

Recent coverage of the re-branding of Theatre Shop as the Irish Theatre Institute highlighted its brief in relation to the promotion of Irish theatre abroad. Also this summer we read of Druid triumphing once again in New York and Minneapolis - members of the Gate Theatre will no doubt be next in the queues at Dublin Airport. So far so worthy. But for those of us living in the regions, it raises the question of why the best of Irish theatre is practically impossible to see here at home outside Galway and Dublin.

This is not to say that those of us living in the sticks don't applaud the fact that Irish theatre is being seen and acclaimed throughout the world. This is as it should be. But recent announcements and celebrations of success abroad inevitably highlight the drastic reduction in the amount of regional touring undertaken by Ireland's top theatre companies.

Let me put this in context. The Dunamaise Arts Centre opened seven years ago. In its first nine months it hosted 10 Arts Council-subsidised theatre or dance companies, including the Abbey Theatre, Opera Theatre Company, Red Kettle, Fishamble, Island Theatre Company, Calypso, Galloglass and the Irish Modern Dance Theatre Company. This year, six years later, the same period will see just one production by an Arts Council-subsidised company in the venue. This is a staggering decline.

While all the photocalls and publicity would lead us to believe that you can't throw a stone without rising a lump on an acclaimed Irish production, the fact is that you'd need to be throwing your stones from an airplane. The only chance regional audiences might get to see Improbable Frequency in the near future is compliments of Aer Lingus or Ryanair.

Audiences in the regions are rightly asking, where has all the theatre gone? While it is wonderful for them to be flying the flag for us in Sydney, New York, South Carolina and Edinburgh, is it not possible for them to be playing both at home and away?

Historians tell us that during the Irish famine more food was exported from the country than would have fed the population twice over; it is no exaggeration to say that there this is now a famine of top- quality theatre touring to the regions.

The money that provides the funding to commission, cast, rehearse and perform these productions in the first place comes from the pockets of taxpayers throughout the country. It is theatre-goers abroad who are reaping the benefits.

As ever, the problem seems to be a funding one. The Arts Council has indicated that the annual grants they give to performing arts companies include funds for touring, yet these companies tell us that they don't have the resources to go on tour. Meanwhile, audiences in the regions are caught in the middle, hoping to catch one or two of the tasty morsels that might come their way.

The absence of a touring policy and, crucially, the funding to back it up, is depriving a huge swathe of theatre audiences throughout the country an opportunity to see the best that is available, and it something which must be addressed as a matter of urgency. The long-awaited announcement from Merrion Square of such a policy cannot come soon enough.

Louise Donlon is director of Dunamaise Arts Centre