Abbey board to stand down
The board of the Abbey Theatre tonight agreed to stand down as soon as a new company was formed to run the century-old national institution.
Arts Minister John O’Donoghue earlier demanded a newly-appointed board run a more modern corporate regime at the loss-making Abbey.
Board members of the theatre said after a crisis meeting tonight that they would propose the new structure to the Arts Council at an early extraordinary general meeting.
“The board will stand down as soon as the transfer to the new company is completed,” said Abbey chairperson Eithne Healy.
Mr O’Donoghue tonight welcomed the board’s decision and said he looked forward a new corporate governance structure at the Abbey.
The Abbey board also considered a KPMG financial report on the theatre’s future that found it had an estimated loss of €1.85m and operating deficit of €3.4m for 2004.
The findings found no evidence of theft, fraud or misconduct but criticised management for not identifying factors contributing to an under-recording of the operating loss for 2004.
It also discovered deficiencies in internal controls and audits.
The board agreed to accept the report’s conclusions and Ms Healy said recommended changes were already underway at the theatre.
Earlier a board member had warned that, unless the theatre received Arts Council funding by the end of this week, it would be faced with immediate technical insolvency and staff would have to be put on protective notice.
However Arts Council chairwoman Olive Braiden said the Abbey had failed to meet a series of agreed targets under a programme for change in order to receive Government funding.
Mr O’Donoghue earlier insisted that it was time for a new corporate structure to take the theatre into the its next 100 years.
“The entire governance really is reflective of a different age, and composed of many different constituent parts. Unfortunately that kind of model does not survive very long in today’s corporate world where competition is so stiff,” he said.
“The facts of the matter are we do have a serious problem at the Abbey.
“My interest at the present time and that of the Government is to ensure that this national treasure, this repository of our cultural heritage, is retained.”
