The Reply

Right then, first things first. Why weren’t these objections raised on the night a deputation from the Drama Circle met a full meeting of Sligo Corporation and put their plan before the members? That, surely, would have been the proper time to voice reservations, ‘question the worthiness’ of the project, and, if it didn’t meet with approval, produce an alternative. Why wait until now? Considerable work has gone into the planning of this project over a number of years, and especially in the past twelve months or so. It has received tremendous support and encouragement from all sections of the community, including Sligo Corporation itself. Indeed, if my information is correct, every encouragement was given by individual members of the Corporation during informal discussions with Drama Circle personnel, and as far as I know, not one protesting voice has been raised against it until last week.

An indication of the support which the project has received lies in the fact that one Sligo industrialist has pledged £5,000 in a single contribution from his company, plus a personal pledge of £500; many other pledges of substantial amounts of money have been received, some of them from people who do not even reside in Sligo; Most Rev. Dr. Dominic Conway, Bishop of Elphin, has donated a site at the Retreat House free of charge, and £20,000 will be forthcoming from the North West Regional Tourism Organisation, spread over a two or three year period. Very few, if any, local ventures have received such widespread financial support in the past. In fact, Tourism Manager, Mr. E. P. Hoy told me no later than this week that his organisation sees the theatre as a very important amenity in the context of an expanding Sligo. His organisation’s financial contribution is based on what they think the value of a theatre will be to tourism in the area, and Mr. Hoy personally is hoping the Corporation’s original commitment will be met in full.

As far as the Corporation’s £25,000 grant is concerned, the amount would be spread over a period of five years, so that the burden on the rates which Ald. Guinane appears to be worried about will in no way be as severe as Ald. Guinane would have us believe. Everything considered, £5,000 per year for five years isn’t an awful lot of money considering the project will cost something between £180,000 and £200,000. Would anybody suggest that a theatre would NOT be worth £5,000 a year to Sligo? For five years only! I doubt it. None of the money collected will be accepted until it has been proved beyond all doubt that the theatre venture is a viable proposition. Neither will a penny of the money go directly to the Drama Circle. – it will be handled by the Sligo Theatre Development Trust, the trustees being representative of the major contributors, including Sligo Corporation. The job of the trustees will be to see that their financial interest in the project will be fully protected at all times.

Despite what Ald. Guinane asserts, the cost of the theatre will be the same no matter where it is to be built – and the grant from Sligo Corporation will not change either – so there is nothing to be gained and everything to be lost by messing about with the site at this point. Building the theatre on the site of the proposed sports complex will neither diminish the cost nor simplify anything – in fact the reverse is the case. The Drama Circle already has a site for nothing; the Sports Complex Committee hasn’t got one yet, and although they are examining two at present, nobody knows whether any of them will prove suitable, when land will be acquired or under what conditions. Quite apart from this crucial issue of the site, one has to ask would the Sports Committee welcome the additional problem of catering for a £200,000 theatre on their site. Ald. Guinane seems to imply that they would. My information is that they would not – and for a very sensible reason. They will have quite enough problems catering for the demands which will be made by a great number of existing sporting organisations in the area. The Sports Complex Committee is essentially concerned with providing sporting and recreational facilities – their lack of know-how and technical knowledge of the theatre would be a major drawback in the event that they were to become involved in the Drama Circle project.

A very different situation would arise if the project were to be tied in with the Sports Complex. Who, for instance, would decide on what gets priority? Would the site for the theatre be given free? If not, how much would it cost? Nobody would suggest that the sports complex will be built in the near future. In fact it is readily admitted by the Committee members themselves that a sports complex will not be seen in Sligo for a number of years. On the basis of cost alone, Ald. Guinane’s argument doesn’t hold water – for by taking its place in a long queue for inclusion in a sports complex, the cost of the theatre project would have soared – by the time the first stone was laid. By going ahead as quickly as possible under the present arrangement, the job should be done much quicker and much cheaper. If it isn’t, that will be for the Drama Circle to worry about. Ald. Guinane says she cannot help wondering what happened to the idea of homes for senior citizens which was at one time mooted for the present theatre site. Ald. Guinane is long enough in public life now to know that many ideas are mooted, but that’s as far as most of them ever get. I can recall an idea for a League of Decency being mooted in Sligo, but it seems to have gone the way of several other ‘mooted’ ideas!

Finally, let me dispel once and for all any implication, intended or not, that the theatre, when it is built, will be for the exclusive use of the members of the Drama Circle. Any local or visiting groups which would require a stage or a hall for the presentation of their work will have use of the new theatre. This includes Sligo Feiseanna, Tops of the Town, operatic societies, variety concerts and so on. The theatre will also be available for major conferences – an important item in itself because of the amount of business such conferences generate in a town. In short, the theatre will be a facility for the people of Sligo – not for the members of the Drama Circle who, in this instance, are acting merely in the capacity of a building agency.

from The Sligo Champion, On the Line, by Seamus Finn, May 14th, 1976