Abbey executive rejects fund raising criticism

THE director of public relations and marketing at the Abbey Theatre has rejected criticisms of her involvement in a fund raising campaign for the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Mr Higgins, and the Galway Labour Party. The criticisms were made by the Progressive Democrats' Dublin West by election candidate, Cllr Sheila Terry, in a statement, Ms Dorothea Melvin said that a letter she had issued was on Labour Party notepaper and made no reference to her position at the Abbey Theatre. Any suggestion that she was "in some way guilty of gombeenism was unfair and misleading, she said.

The letter, which was headed "Friends of Galway Labour", announced the establishment of a support group for the party and for its Galway deputy, Mr Higgins It detailed a series of fundraising events scheduled for 1996, including a "race night" on March 12th.

Copies of it were circulated by the PDs and Cllr Terry questioned whether it was appropriate for a senior executive of the Abbey to be involved in such party political fundraising.

But in her statement, Ms Melvin said that the Abbey did not receive statutory funding from Minister Higgins and had not - "now or at any time in the past" lobbied for such funding.

"As director of public relations and marketing at the Abbey Theatre, I am not engaged in dealings with either the Arts Council or the Minister's department. All submissions to these bodies are dealt with directly by the senior management of the National Theatre Society."

Her appointment with the Abbey had been made "in the usual way and by interview with senior management", the statement continued.

"Lest there be any further misunderstanding, I wish to reiterate that all correspondence was on Labour Party constituency paper and no reference to my position as director of public relations and marketing was ever mentioned."

She called on Cllr Terry to correct" - the comment she had made and to do so "in as public a manner as the original statement."