He never made any secret of where he wanted to go. In an interview with Deirdre Purcell in 1989, in which she described him as Ben the Pretender, the candour with which Ben Barnes spoke about his ambition was unusual for a man of the arts.
"It's kind of well known in the theatre, who the people are who are now interested in running the Abbey. If you are a director who has lived and worked in the theatre here for a number of years . . . then obviously one of your aspirations is to run the National Theatre . . .
" I'm at the time of my life now where I feel mature enough as a director, as a theatre professional and as a person to take the idea very seriously." But he was in no rush, he said. "If it happens for me in 10 years' time, that would be fine too."
It has happened for him. To no one's great surprise, the freelance award-winning director was appointed artistic director-designate of the Abbey Theatre on Wednesday. He takes over from Patrick Mason on January 1st, 2000. He is regarded as sensitive, competent, hardworking, thorough and efficient, as well as having more than 40 productions at the Abbey to his credit. His appointment will cause some to heave a sigh of relief.
In the past 20 years he has founded the Opera Theatre Company, co-founded with Arthur Lappin the Groundwork production company, trained as a director at the Abbey and was resident director there from 1982 to 1986. As one of Dublin's theatre cognoscenti commented, "With a CV like that, he'd really have to f-k up at the interview. It would have been very hard, on paper, not to give him the job." Born in Wexford 46 years ago, his parents were both interested in the Wexford Opera Festival. Though his mother was involved in amateur dramatics, he never performed until his days at UCD's Dramsoc. He could have gone in other directions. A lectureship was considered, but he eventually won a bursary from the Arts Council to train under Joe Dowling at the Abbey. He has been described as restless and insecure, with a constant hankering after his now achieved goal. "It is almost embarrassing how much he wanted this job," the same theatre enthusiast commented. "He canvassed and courted, and he talked about it every day." A critic who has met him many times confides: "We don't expect such blatant self-publicity in the arts. Or if we do, we expect a bit of panache to go with it."
Whatever about all that, eyes will now be on what he can bring to the job he has won. Leading the national theatre into the next millennium while keeping intact the legacy handed down by its founder, W.B. Yeats - who described it the "protector of the national repertory" - is something many would see as a poisoned chalice. The Abbey's management structure - complete with shareholders, a board, executives and its fair share of political infighting - coupled with the sense of ownership almost every citizen feels for the Abbey, has, some say, defeated more than a few of its artistic directors.
Before Patrick Mason took the helm eight years ago, there had been seven directors in seven years.
Barnes is certainly regarded as one of the State's premier theatre directors. Last February his production of Bernard Farrell's Kevin's Bed won him the Best Director accolade in the Irish Times/ESB Theatre Awards.
In terms of his contribution to the evolution of Irish theatre, he is best known for rescuing John B. Keane's works from their "rural melodrama" tag. With Groundwork, he took Keane's Sive, The Field and Big Maggie, tightening them from three- to two-act plays and gave productions which, 30 years after he wrote the plays, granted Keane critical recognition.
Although most closely associated with Keane's and Bernard Farrell's plays, he has also directed works by Graham Reid, John Banville and David Mamet. His productions have, in the main, received glowing reviews. "Ben Barnes's immensely empathetic direction"; "faithful to the complex construction"; "fluid and sensitive direction" are some of the accolades which Irish Times readers have kept coming across. Playwrights are said to love working with him. Bernard Farrell - whose play The Spirit of Annie Ross is his current project and due to open at the Gate in early October - describes him as "meticulous, thorough and sensitive to the text".
"I have spent four weeks with him going through a play, line by line by line."
Michael Colgan, artistic director at the Gate, speaks of his "great overview of the play".
"He has a strong visual sense and understanding of the importance of everything - the lighting, the sound, the impact, even the publicity, for God's sake."
Others, however, discern a lack of "challenge" in his direction. Some are disappointed for the other director about whom there was speculation for the post. Fiach MacConghail of the Project is younger and, to many, more exciting. Drawing analogies with an earlier much vaunted appointment to a national institution - The Late Late Show - some see Barnes as the Abbey's Pat Kenny. "A competent, safe pair of hands"; "solid, but lacking much edge"; "they [the Abbey's board of directors] haven't exactly taken a risk with him", have been some of the reactions from those who know about these things.
A relative of a former holder of the AD post said he had never at a Barnes production felt "rooted to the seat" or "being taken places had never been before".
"I have never left his plays angry or challenged."
He sees this as a weakness for a new Abbey AD. To make the Ben Barnes era unique, a capacity for risk-taking and challenging will be vital.
Theatre, Barnes has said, contributes fundamentally to the evolution of the national consciousness. It will be a fine line he treads in the national theatre between protecting that consciousness and challenging it. He may do well to look once again over that interview with Deirdre Purcell. Having realised his ultimate ambition, some will say his real challenge is only beginning. He said in that interview of 1989 that whoever held the post would need the support of other people.
"If the Abbey is healthy then Irish theatre is healthy," he said. "That's the perception abroad as well, so it's in all our interests."