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The Abbey Theatre Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie

Dublin City Council is using compulsory purchase orders to buy buildings to expand Abbey Theatre

Plans to expand the theatre were first unveiled in 2017.

COMPULSORY PURCHASE ORDERS (CPOs) are to be carried out on buildings on Eden Quay to allow the Abbey Theatre to expand.

Dublin City Council has lodged planning applications to purchase several buildings on the quay in Dublin city centre using CPOs.

A CPO is a legal function that allows statutory bodies to take possession of land or property without the agreement of the owner.

The buildings in question are 18-21 Eden Quay, 24-26 Abbey Street Lower, and 7, 8 and 20 Old Abbey Street. The Abbey is the leaseholder for the Abbey Street buildings.

The Abbey bought 15-17 Eden Quay in 2012 and purchased 22 and 23 Eden Quay four years later. 

The applications were lodged on 8 July, with the case due to be decided by 13 December.

To carry out the build, the current structure on the corner of Abbey Street and Marlborough Street will be demolished, and the new theatre will be expanded into adjacent premises on Eden Quay and extend towards the River Liffey.

Two larger auditoriums will replace the current Abbey and Peacock spaces, with audience capacities of 700 and 250, respectively. It will also include more facilities for artists, audiences and staff.

A spokesperson for Dublin City Council said those occupying the other buildings will be compensated for the transfer. Once this is agreed between both parties, the council are free to take possession of the buildings. 

One objection has been lodged so far, but the party was not named. The last date to issue an objection is 10 August. 

This latest development has been welcomed by the Abbey Theare. 

A spokesperson said: “The publication of the CPO of a number of sites adjacent to the Abbey’s current properties is a step in the journey towards this future redevelopment.”

“This new national theatre will be a destination for artists to create and collaborate and an accessible hub of activity, for the public to enjoy, throughout the day and evening,” they added. 

The Abbey Theatre, also known as the National Theatre of Ireland, first opened to the public in 1904.

It has been in its current building for over 50 years, and the facilities have been repeatedly criticised as inadequate by performers and staff.

Following ongoing discussions with Dublin City Council, plans for its renovation were first unveiled in 2017. It was subsequently allocated €80 million in state funding by the Department of Culture to carry out the renovation.

“The Abbey theatre, following wide consultation, is currently finalising a feasibility study for an ambitious new national theatre, extending its current site down to Eden Quay on the Liffey,” the Department said in 2018. 

They added that the new building will “honour the history and legacy of the Abbey, while matching the national theatres of other European capital cities.”

No date has been set for builing to commence. 

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25 Comments
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    Mute kevin mc cormack
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    Jul 18th 2021, 9:28 AM

    Is this what a CPO was meant for? I thought it was for infrastructure projects not vanity ones by a certain person in the council.

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    Mute Irish Names
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    Jul 18th 2021, 11:40 AM

    @kevin mc cormack: CPO is a powerful tool that was meant to be used for very specific public projects like roads – now it’s being used to communise private property for all sorts of projects – it is due a retest in the Supreme Court / of course the council are banking on no one having the funds to challenge it.

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    Mute Shawn O'Ceallaghan
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    Jul 18th 2021, 12:48 PM

    @kevin mc cormack: it can used for a number of reasons.

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    Mute Patricia O'Reilly
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    Jul 18th 2021, 10:32 PM

    @kevin mc cormack: Dublin City council are just a bunch of ego’s. The betterment of the city is not on their agenda. The Abbey is indeed a credible venture but at what cost to housing and drugs and poverty in the city centre.. they have as always their priorities wrong.

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    Mute Valentine Kane
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    Jul 18th 2021, 9:59 AM

    And yet we cant do that to fix a housing crisis

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    Mute EillieEs
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    Jul 18th 2021, 10:51 AM

    @Valentine Kane: fixing the housing problem is a tad more complicated than slapping a CPO on a few buildings. It’s also down to national government and not council policy.

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    Mute Valentine Kane
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    Jul 18th 2021, 7:26 PM

    @EillieEs: agreed sir, but there are thousands of houses standing idle that have not been lived in for years that could be purchased using a CPO but there is no will to do so, we have people dieing on the streets, in 3 months time we will be back into autumn and then winter.

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    Mute HonDeDeise
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    Jul 18th 2021, 7:53 AM

    Good.

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    Mute Garreth Byrne
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    Jul 18th 2021, 8:17 AM

    Good thinking. The Abbey needs to expand and put more bums on seats.

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    Mute Richard Right
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    Jul 18th 2021, 8:29 AM

    @Garreth Byrne: Hasn’t sold out in 18mths.

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    Mute Craic_a_tower
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    Jul 18th 2021, 9:13 AM

    @Richard Right: has it even been open? Have you ever been there?

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    Mute Mr. G
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    Jul 18th 2021, 9:18 AM

    @Craic_a_tower:

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    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
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    Jul 18th 2021, 12:16 PM

    @Garreth Byrne: Yes, it’s good news. It’s been packed every time I went and no one wants to see run-down quays. I’ve always preferred the Peacock but if it’s crowded for the audience, it must be stifling backstage.

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    Mute Gary Kearney
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    Jul 18th 2021, 12:19 PM

    @Fiona Fitzgerald: It is backstage in both venues is tight, very tight. It means that the shows do suffer. Cant use black stages all the time, sets and props etc can make or break a show.
    Cant use them properly if you have no room.

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    Mute Rob Gale
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    Jul 18th 2021, 9:36 AM

    Really good and surprising news. The first good thing DCC have done in eons. Wouldn’t be surprised if they unveiled it and it turned out to actually be a theatre themed hotel.

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    Mute William Tallon
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    Jul 18th 2021, 10:35 AM

    @Rob Gale: So when did providing drinking water for the city and treating and disposing of all that sewage on a daily basis stop being a good thing…

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    Mute Gary Kearney
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    Jul 18th 2021, 12:17 PM

    @Rob Gale: With a canoe course

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    Mute Thomas M Bourke
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    Jul 18th 2021, 12:29 PM

    So what are the business impacted.. here is a quick list while I’m waiting for my coffee to cool off a bit:

    18 Eden Quay is Tracey’s Pharmacy
    19 Eden Quay is Marian Pilgrimages/ Croatia Tours
    20 Eden Quay is (was?) a Hairdresser
    21 Eden Quay is a Hong Kong bakery and bubble tea shop – only opened in March :(
    24-26 Abbey Street Lower was Smyths Solicitors they moved pre pandemic (if I recall correctly) and the building now looks like a Goth’s delight with the amount of black paint
    20 Old Abbey Street appears to be Abbey Law Solicitors (although they should update the map on their website – Jimmy Chung’s has been gone for over a year now!)

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    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
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    Jul 18th 2021, 2:56 PM

    @Thomas M Bourke: Best comment, actually listing what used to be there. If the whole front crumbled into the Liffey, there would still be people giving out, people who never go into town.

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    Mute Paul
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    Jul 18th 2021, 8:09 AM

    Maybe consider converting some or part of the newly acquisitioned properties into apartments for staff

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    Mute Liam Collins
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    Jul 18th 2021, 8:11 AM

    @Paul: why

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    Mute brefanlfc
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    Jul 18th 2021, 5:34 PM

    @Liam Collins: Because he’s staff

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    Mute Jimmy Jones
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    Jul 19th 2021, 12:52 AM

    “The Abbey is the leaseholder for the abbey street buildings “
    I hate it when you get to the line in an article that should explain the central point in the article and the journalist has dozed off and used completely ambiguous wording. Sorry, but lazy is the only word that fits.

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    Mute Anthony Clark
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    Jul 19th 2021, 3:53 PM

    Thats a lot of buildings facing the liffey – some very nice ones too (like Eden House and some nice Georgean buildings)
    I hope they can keep as much of the old buildings and style as possible.

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    Mute Saigionsive
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    Jul 19th 2021, 12:02 PM

    Should be on a green field site outside the m50, think of all the arts patrons who won’t be able to use the luas

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