The council has taken over Smock Alley Theatre

Smock Alley Theatre has now transitioned over to become the Dublin Municipal Theatre, the council confirmed on Monday.

Since 2008, the theatre has been leased by the Temple Bar Cultural Trust (TBCT) to Smock Alley Company Limited.

But, back in March 2024, the council made clear that it intended to take over the running of the theatre.

Now, following a lengthy legal process, all of the theatre's business operations and assets were transferred to Dublin Municipal Theatre CLG (DMT) on 5 August, according to a report by TBCT CEO John Foley on 8 September.

DMT was established by TBCT, a subsidiary of DCC since 2014, for the purpose of achieving this changeover, Foley’s report notes.

All of the staff currently employed by Smock Alley are going to be retained under the new management, Foley wrote, adding that the transfer also wouldn't cause any interruption to the theatre’s programming or commercial commitments.

Dublin City Council will, through its Arts Office, provide financial support to DMT, with €250,000 to be provided for it in the annual revenue budget going forward, he wrote.

A new CEO was appointed to DMT, and its operations are currently being overseen by a board of directors consisting of council senior staff, but Foley’s report also noted that preparations were being made to add two councillors to the board, as well as an independent chairperson.

When Foley’s report was brought before the council’s Community, Gaeilge, Sport, Arts and Culture Strategic Policy Committee on Monday morning, Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney asked if there was a timeframe for when councillors would be appointed to the board.

The protocols for adding councillors onto the board still needs to be decided by the council’s chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, a manager told the committee meeting.

Give Us The Night campaigner Sunil Sharp, who is a member of the committee, asked if the theatre is now going to be called the Dublin Municipal Theatre. Or if that is just the name for those managing it?

“There was a bit of a question mark above this previously,” he said. Is that a proposed name change?”

DMT is the name of the company, the manager said. “It will be for the DMT board then to decide on the name whether it’s DMT trading as Smock Alley or anything else that may be. There’s nothing 100 per cent decided on that yet.”

The committee members noted the report.