‘Significant’ governance failure at Ireland’s national theatre

An independent review has found "significant failures" in the governance of Dublin’s Abbey Theatre, the National Theatre of Ireland, between 2019 and 2021.

The report found significant payments were made to former co-directors Neil Murray and Graham McLaren during this time. Each received redundancy payments of more than €63,000, while McLaren received a further €110,000 following a bullying and harassment inquiry against him.

The investigation found the theatre paid more than €1m in direct costs to the former directors, legal fees and its human resources investigation. The country’s arts council withheld part of the theatre’s annual €8m budget due to the handling of the case.

Abbey Theatre has only recently published part of the report, which was commissioned as a condition of funding from the arts council, although it was completed last year. The theatre says "some key actions" have already been taken to implement its recommendations.

"The board is mindful of its responsibility to provide accountability and transparency in its governance arrangements and their application, and of its obligation to correct course and make changes when that responsibility has not been met," a statement from the theatre said.

"The board acknowledges that the review process has been constructive on both fronts."