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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
68 July-August
Schmock horror
Temple Bar authority let Smock Alley Theatre off
€359k in rent but pretends arrears, as it is wound up,
are only €54,766 and total liabilities €174,089
By Michael Smith
Church, nd then public purse, Gutted
CULTURE
July-August 69
funding followed. In 2018, there was a 40%
increase in day-to-day venue funding to
€70,000 (from €50,000 in 2017).
Neither the Department of Culture nor the
Arts Council insisted on elementary
financial accountability and TBCT and SAT
certainly did not provide it.
In 2018 the annual report recorded that
there was “a significant chance that Smock
Alley Theatre will not be sustainable” and,
by 2021, the accumulated deficit had
reached €173,000 and the report was
recording “significant uncertainties” with
the auditors noting they were “unable to
obtain sucient appropriate audit evidence
to provide a basis for an audit opinion on
these financial statements”. And worse:
“We have not obtained all the information
and explanations that we considered
necessary for the purpose of our audit; and
I
n the mid-1990s Dublin City’s oldest
Catholic Church was redeveloped, as
part of the EU-funded Temple Bar
rejuvenation scheme. The scheme
unwisely focused on providing
venues for the arts rather than on
sustainable long-term uses. It turned St
Michael’s and John’s Church into the corny
Viking Adventure and Feast, and a decade
later into Smock Alley Theatre.
The first Theatre Royal was opened on
Exchange Street in Dublin by John Ogilby,
in 1662. Ogilby, who was the first Irish
Master of the Revels, had previously run the
New Theatre in nearby Werburgh Street,
which had closed during the Puritan
Cromwellian era.
Its site is reclaimed from the River Liey
and due to this, in 1670 and later in 1701
the upper galleries collapsed killing several
people inside and injuring many more
including the son of the Lord Lieutenant of
Ireland, Charles Earl, who was pulled from
the wreckage of his box with two broken
legs.
It was on the stage of Smock Alley Theatre
that David Garrick, the greatest actor of the
18th century, first played Hamlet, and the
plays of George Farquhar (The Recruiting
Officer/The Beaux Stratagem), Oliver
Goldsmith (She Stoops to Conquer) and
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, son of Thomas
Sheridan (The Rivals/School for Scandal)
all crossed the boards.
After final closure in 1787, the building
was used as a whisky store before being
bought in a state of collapse by Fr Michael
Blake in 1811 for conversion, funded by
hard-earned subscription, into a church
which incorporated some of this original
theatre and was named St Michael and
John’s.
When the bell tolled that year, 18 years
before Catholic Emancipation, it was the
first Catholic bell to ring in Dublin in nearly
300 years — a historical event of
extraordinary significance and symbolism
— and it was aectionately known as
“Ireland’s Liberty Bell” though it also
prompted the aldermen of the city to bring
charges against Fr Blake, which they were
dropped when young lawyer Daniel
O’Connell came to his defence.
In the 1970s, Father Jack Murphy earned
the nickname of Father Jack Flash as legend
had it he could say a mass in the church in
less than 25 minutes. Some dock workers
claimed you could order a pint of Guinness,
go to one of Father Jack’s masses and be
back before the pint had settled.
In 1989, due to falling numbers of
parishioners, the church was
deconsecrated. It was then redeveloped, as
part of the EU-funded Temple Bar
rejuvenation scheme — which unwisely
focused on providing venues for the arts,
rather than on finding sustainable long-
term uses — into the corny “Viking
Adventure and Feast’’.
Architects for the scheme over-
emphasised the significance of the residue
of the theatre to the detriment of the iconic
Regency Gothic church, gutting it, and, only
for environmental charity An Taisce’s
intervention, self-aggrandised and State
Quango, the profligate Temple Bar
Properties, would have ignorantly pushed
demolition of the 1815 ceiling on the
spurious basis that it was a ‘twentieth-
century intervention’.
The adventure and feast replicated the
vibe of Dublinia nearby, unsurprisingly
never buttered any parsnips, and closed in
2002.
In 2003, Temple Bar Properties Ltd,
whose cultural functions were taken over
by Temple Bar Cultural Trust (TBCT) in
2005, sought proposals from cultural
entities for the one-time church, now
adventure and feast.
Following a process, TBCT entered into
talks with Patrick Sutton, the Director of the
Gaiety School of Acting, to redevelop the
building as a theatre. A new vehicle, Smock
Alley Theatre Ltd (SAT), was set up to
oversee the project and on 1 July 2008
Smock Alley Theatre Ltd signed a 35-year
lease on the property. The theatre operated
with some success, however, it struggled
financially more recently it began to run
into significant diculty in discharging its
liabilities, in particular, its rent to TBCT.
A hefty €3.8m in grants was secured
from the Department of Culture towards the
redevelopment of the site, but little other
From Progress Report to TBCT, Mrch 2024
It is notable that historical
liabilities are outrageously
calculated at €54,766
including VAT when TBCT
estimates rent arrears
alone are an extraordinary
€359,000. This is sleight
of hand by a State
authority
70 July-August
we are unable to determine whether
adequate accounting records have been
kept”.
Since 2020, TBCT has been actively
engaging with the Board and Executive of
SAT with a view to an orderly wind up of the
Company on the basis that TBCT in
partnership with DCC would turn the
building into Dublin Municipal Theatre
(DMT).
In September 2023 it was proposed that
SAT would begin the final stages of its
wind-up with a target that DMT would take
over control of the building and its
operation on 1 January 2024. Dublin City
Council’s Arts Oce would provide financial
support of €250,000 in the Annual
Revenue Budget to DMT and a Service Level
Agreement (SLA) would be put in place.
The SAT board was chaired until January
by former PTSB banker-turned-financial
consultant Brendan Lynott and includes
ex-Diageo accountant Gerard Dempsey,
Goodbody solicitor Danielle Fleming, actor
Mark Lambert and former PD TD Fiona
O’Malley.
Patrick Sutton, former voice coach to
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, founded and
fronted Smock Alley for decades. He also
led the Gaiety School of Acting for 30 years
until March.
It is now run by UK theatre director
William Wollen and chaired by Element
Pictures group head of business aairs,
Mark Byrne.
The auditors state that, at the end of
2021, fully €208,000 was owed by SAT to
Singman Ltd, the parent company of the
always profitable Gaiety School.
The owner of the acting school has been
surprisingly forbearant.
The private sector is one thing, but the
State, acting through TBCT, has been
unwisely spendthrift and reckless with its
indulgence of the badly run theatre.
According to a Progress Report to TBCT, on
26 March 2024, €10k was advanced to
Smock Alley and on 2 April a further c.€38k
was committed to pay down Revenue arrears,
with payment provided in multiple tranches.
Further funding to address cashflow
diculties may be provided where acute
need is demonstrated to avoid closure.
According to the Progress Report to TBCT,
Smock Alley’s records of its rent arrears do
not match TBCT’s records. Smock Alley’s
statutory auditor is working with Smock
Alley to establish the correct data for Smock
Alley’s 2022 and 2023 financial statements.
TBCT’s records indicate rent and recharge
arrears of €359k including VAT. €53k of this
is reported to relate to the period from 2022
to now.
It is scandalous that this was allowed to
accumulate, by a State body, at taxpayer’s
expense.
According to the Progress Report, any
write-off of rent arrears by TBCT will
precipitate a VAT liability for Smock Alley.
A preliminary estimate for this is c.€30k.
In addition to a lien on the building by the
Department of Arts, Smock Alley continues
to carry loans repayable to the Gaiety
School and AIB. Previously, agreement was
reached between Smock Alley and its
creditors to extinguish these loans, under
certain conditions:
A the Gaiety School would write o the
loan on the condition that it first secured a
licence to continue to use certain spaces in
the building.
B The guarantor of AIB’s loan agreed to
clear the balance in the event of wind-up,
on the condition that Smock Alley continued
to make the repayments until that date.
Subject to satisfactory audit outcomes,
it is proposed to issue a SLA laying out the
future modus operandi between DMT and
Smock Alley. This SLA is intended to
facilitate an interim arrangement whereby
Smock Alley provides facilities and
programme management services in the
building on behalf of DMT.
Internal documents seen by Village sum
up the arrangement as follows:
Summary of activities
•
Transition Manager appointed by TBCT to
manage day to day relationship and
engagement with SAT
•
Forensic Auditor appointed by TBCT to
review Financial Statements and
accounts of SAT – Work ongoing and will
be fully complete in approx. 6 weeks
•
Carr Communications engaged to work
on communications as and when required
• Draft Funding agreement for emergency
stabilisation completed
• TBCT Law agent PF O’Reilly are engaging
with all parties to update the settlement
agreement and put in place the various
new funding agreements, SLAs etc
Decisions required of the board
1.
Approve Funding agreement [draft is
attached]
2.
Approval to release €38,750 immediately
in emergency funding to SAT to cover the
VAT/PAYE owing to Revenue. This is
required in order for them to maintain
their Tax Clearance
3.
Approval for CEO to release funding of
€4,650/week to cover ongoing
operational costs - €20k released to date
as per approval given to my email the
board on 22nd March
4.
Approval to release funds to clear their
historical costs as per the previous
report (summary below) as I get
confirmation from the auditor that
nothing of note has been discovered.
5.
Appoint temporary General Manager
(GM) to Dublin Metropolitan Theatre
(DMT) to manage the SLA between DMT
and SAT until the transition is complete.
I will liaise with the Arts oce on this.
6.
Begin a recruitment process to appoint a
permanent GM/CEO of DMT
7. Approval to put an SLA in place between
DMT and SAT to carry out activities on our
behalf during the Transition period.
It is the Total Liabilities that are of
concern. It is notable that historical
liabilities are outrageously calculated at
€54,766 including VAT when TBCT estimates
rent arrears alone are an extraordinary
€359,000. This is sleight of hand by a State
authority. It might have been easier just to
be a more demanding landlord and guardian
of public funds, in the public interest.
SAT Current Liabilities Value Notes
Aged Liabilities €54,766.00 Might reduce as trading improves
Historical VAT €28,094.00 After audit completed
PAYE/PRSI Q1 24 €17,750.00 Immediate payment
VAT Nov ‘23-Feb ‘24 €21,000.00 Immediate payment
Overdraft €29,179.00 Might reduce as trading improves
Day to day funding
(until end April)
€23,300.00 Approx €4,650/week until SLA in
place
Total Liabilities €174,089.00 Actual Cost to TBCT
A hefty €3.8m in
grants was secured
from the Department
of Culture towards the
redevelopment of the site,
but little funding followed
