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Palpable sense of relief and positivity at Abbey Theatre following publication of report

Directors acknowledge ‘acceptance of the past, of gaps in governance, to correct course and make changes’

The Abbey Theatre on Abbey Street Lower, Dublin. Photograph: Barry Cronin for The Irish Times
Deirdre Falvey's picture
Deirdre Falvey
Sat Aug 31 2024 - 06:00

On a sunny Friday afternoon, an hour after the Abbey Theatre finally published the findings and recommendations of the long-awaited report on its governance, the building is buzzing and there is a palpable relief and positivity.

The report detailed a dismal litany of failures, painting a picture of shambolic – and costly – handling of events between 2019 and 2021, relating to investigating complaints made against former codirector Graham McLaren and the recruitment of new leaders following the departures of McLaren and Neil Murray.

Perhaps counter-intuitively, the current directors Caitríona McLaughlin and Mark O’Brien, and other staff around, including at a lively Theatre in the Making event which has taken over the bar, are buoyant, hopeful.

It is as if a boil has been lanced.

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In the directors’ office on the top floor, just after a staff meeting where they outlined the findings of the consultants’ report, O’Brien said: “It’s a kind of a completion. It’s been a long, challenging process.”

“Staff were very glad,” says McLaughlin, “we’re in a position to publish 12 findings and six recommendations.”

Roughly half the staff and almost the entire senior management team are new since they took over. The controversy has been on their radar for more than three years of their five-year tenure, and it is their first time talking about it.

O’Brien says: “The Abbey’s been in existence for 120 years. Moving on from this, it’s not just about us.” He says the report was only finalised and approved by the board in June. Contrary to speculation, “it didn’t sit anywhere for a long time. There was motion the whole time, it wasn’t stalled in that way.”

It took a long time, but they’re happy it’s robust, that the findings were approved and published by the board, and that the Arts Council has released €700,000 funding held back since 2022 pending delivery of this report.

The council welcomed the publication, confirming all conditions for its 2022 funding agreement are satisfied, with an agreed monitoring and implementation plan put into action.

Among the points of controversy was how much this long-running saga has cost the Abbey, including payments to the former co-directors, investigations, hefty legal fees. The current directors cannot speak about events prior to them taking over mid-2021, or the total cost, saying it was over five or six years. They stress the review says the Abbey complied with statutory obligations (legal, financial, HR).

The costs of the original investigations are subject to laws about privacy and confidentiality, regulations and duty of care, says O’Brien. Key actions on foot of the report have already been implemented or are in train. “I feel the Abbey Theatre is making a real step forward into the future today.” Crowe Ireland’s independent review began in December 2022 but “it had to take that long. I can reassure, there was no stalling. It’s more important that it was achieved before the chair [Dr Frances Ruane] left” on July 28th.

McLaughlin says “anyone on the board will tell you the chair [Ruane] was pushing for publication of the findings from the beginning [from June when the report was approved]. Always, her impulse was that whatever was found was made available.”

They will not comment on whether the three original complainants were treated fairly, nor whether the investigation of their complaints being drawn out over two years was fair to McLaren, against whom the complaints were made.

[ Abbey Theatre report finds ‘unclear’ governance and poor handling of issues involving former directors ]

McLaughlin observes “it’s reassuring to us” the review found the investigation was in accordance with fair procedures and employment law, saying “for the last three years, governance and robust procedures have been a priority for Mark and I”.

“There’s an acceptance of gaps” in governance, says O’Brien. “The board has acknowledged they’ve an obligation to correct course” but blame for past events cannot be laid in one specific place. “I think there was a confluence.”

He adds: “There needs to be a moment of pause.” There’s significance “for us today, with the Abbey publishing the documents and overtly agreeing with our main funder and our main stakeholder, with the department, a series of actions. We fundamentally understand the responsibility.”

There has been speculation that a two-plus month gap between in-house productions this summer, and small-cast shows for Dublin Theatre Festival, were down to financial pressures. McLaughlin is adamant this isn’t so, that “critical building maintenance needed to happen”, adding many considerations impact on programming.

“The national theatre, like the rest of the theatre industry, is underfunded. We’re on the same funding since 2008, which is €2 million less than 2007.” The Abbey needs more money and multiannual funding to enable it to plan ahead.

O’Brien points to a responsibility to the future: they’re about to launch a five-year strategy, and developing a new building for the Abbey “is moving to a place of decision”. It is “a pivot point. There’s an acceptance of the past, of gaps in governance, to correct course and make changes, as the board said. It’s been challenging, but it’s also an acceptance of now we can move.”