We love going to the cinema but rarely watch European films. Hugh Linehan reports on an initiative to change our habits

Statistics tell us that we Irish are the most enthusiastic cinema-goers in Europe. But they often don't tell us that our filmic diet is depressingly limited. The vast majority of the movies we see come from the US via a handful of Hollywood-based distributors. Less than 10 per cent come from the UK and Ireland. And an even smaller number come from Europe and the rest of the world.

Claude-Eric Poiroux is director of Europa Cinemas, a network of exhibitors across the continent supported by the European Commission and Council of Europe with the aim of increasing screenings of European titles.

Across Europe, the market share for European films outside their country of origin is 8 to 10 per cent (the figures for Ireland are lower). For cinemas on the Europa Cinemas network, it's 38 per cent.

Poiroux has first-hand experience of the issues. A former distributor and producer, he runs a five-screen cinema in Angers, in western France, and founded a festival dedicated to first films from European film-makers. And he's at pains to point out that he makes money from it. "But you have to be very focused, very convinced about what you're doing. Like the Americans."

The first Irish exhibitor in the Europa network, in 1992, was the Light House cinema, run by Neil Connolly and Maretta Dillon. Sadly, it has since closed (although hopes persist that it may yet rise again in another Dublin location), but Poiroux speaks fondly of it as an exemplar of the kind of programming policy that Europa Cinemas is there to support.

At the moment the network has two members in the Republic - the Irish Film Institute and the touring Cinemobile - and is hopeful that Cork's Kino Cinema will soon join.

Flicking through the Europa Cinemas literature, it becomes apparent that Ireland is lagging well behind its EU neighbours when it comes to cinematic diversity. Portugal has nine cinemas meeting the criteria for membership; Denmark has seven; the UK has 27, including Queen's Film Theatre in Belfast.

It's telling that Poiroux is in Dublin at the invitation of Access Cinema, the umbrella body for Irish film clubs and societies. Earlier in the day he's been with it to Dunamaise Arts Centre, in Portlaoise, and Mermaid Arts Centre, in Bray. Neither of these two relatively new centres is a purpose-built cinema, but both include film clubs as part of their monthly programmes. These are the only sorts of places outside Dublin and Cork where you can regularly see non-English- language cinema in Ireland. The film clubs are doing good work, but their occasional nature makes it more difficult to build up local film-going habits.

Although the Arts Council and the Irish Film Board have set up a capital grant scheme for "cultural cinema", it will probably be a long time before we see the sort of regional circuit of full-time cinemas that Europa Cinemas can rely on in other countries. "We're dealing with the realities of different countries," says Poiroux. "We can't be dogmatic."

Since Poiroux first visited the Light House, more than 10 years ago, the cinema landscape has been transformed by the advent of multiplexes across Europe. I wonder what effect he believes the phenomenon has had on cinematic diversity. "There have been two consequences, one good, one bad," he says. "The good is that the introduction of new, modern standards of cinema has obliged exhibitors to invest in their cinemas. Without investors it was a market in decline. With investors there are opportunities for everybody." And the bad? "We know that the multiplex is generally a place for showing American films."

There are, though, multiplexes that show broader ranges of films. "We're open to every kind of cinema. There are three or four multiplexes we support in Spain and two in Norway." He also plans to visit UGC in Dublin, which has been pursuing a more adventurous programming policy of late.

At the heart of Poiroux's project is the belief that, given the resources and the will, audiences will respond positively to European films. He agrees that English-speaking countries are more resistant to films in a foreign language, whether they're subtitled or dubbed, but argues that such cultural habits are rooted in historical circumstances, which can change over time.

"Historically, the European countries which dubbed rather than subtitled their foreign films were Italy, with fascism, Germany, with Nazism, and Spain, with Francoism, because under those ultranationalist regimes it was forbidden to hear foreign languages. It's very interesting, but it is evolving and changing. It's all about habit. In Portugal, for example, they only have subtitled films, because dubbing is too expensive for a small market."

Although Europa Cinemas has been active in central and eastern Europe for several years, he agrees that the EU accession countries present a new challenge. "There are discussions going on about the budget," he says. "There are 10 countries coming in who don't have a lot of money. There's a major inequality there, which Europe has to address.

"And there's a fundamental question of whether culture will be a priority. It's very important to assist in developing the cultures as well as the economies of these countries. Otherwise they will be overwhelmed by American culture."

And what of European films themselves? As film-makers such as Pedro Almodóvar and Nanni Moretti have proved, they are, says Poiroux, well able to find audiences if given the necessary platform.

"Being an exhibitor, one is faced with the realities," he says. "I am a businessman. I have cinemas to run. I have to open every day. I have to pay 18 people. I am responsible. And I know that European films can please many people."