Abbey to cut staff by a third to combat losses

The Abbey Theatre plans to cut its staff by a third in order to combat mounting box office losses and a major funding shortfall. Up to 30 of the company's 91 core staff are to be let go over the next 16 months under a restructuring plan outlined by management yesterday.

In a statement, the Abbey said the reforms were necessary "to stabilise the financial health of the company, which is carrying the burden of significant structural deficits, taking account also of trends in funding and box office revenue."

The national theatre had a deficit of €800,000 in 2003, and claims to be heading for a similar shortfall this year, its centenary, for which it has embarked on an ambitious celebratory programme.

Mr Brian Jackson, managing director of the company, said the abbeyonehundred project had placed an additional strain on the organisation. However, "it's not the current year's programme that's the problem. There is an underlying structural flaw in the business model that would be there with or without the current programme.

"This is not a knee-jerk thing," he added. "It's part of a long-term strategy which will run until December 2005."

The 30 redundancies are to be concentrated in "non-core and support" areas, believed to include outreach and education services, and the literary department, which was expanded under artistic director Mr Ben Barnes three years ago in order to help develop new writing talent.

The company said the reduction in staff would be achieved mainly if not solely by the non-renewal of fixed-term contracts, but a voluntary redundancy scheme would also be offered to permanent staff.

The Abbey also plans to adopt a more flexible business model towards its theatrical productions, lengthening or shortening plays' runs depending on their performance at the box office.

The chairwoman of the Abbey, Ms Eithne Healy, said "nobody is delighted" to have to announce the cutbacks but, she said, the reforms were necessary.

"The theatre is doing really well. There is a great atmosphere this year, and the staff have worked really hard. So we feel we have a good news story. But sooner or later the systemic problems in the Abbey need to be addressed.

"It might have been easier to ignore the problems and leave them for another day. But I am very pleased that the board is as engaged as it is with the theatre. Nobody is avoiding problems."

Staff at the theatre expressed shock at the announcement, which was conveyed to them at an emergency meeting early yesterday.

"People have some sympathy for management because their problems go back to underfunding in the arts sector," said one worker. "But there also seems to be a lack of transparency about how the theatre is financed. People have a lot of questions about how this came about."

The Abbey's finances were thrown in turmoil last year when it suffered a €700,000 cut in revenue and capital funding from the Arts Council. It was allocated €4.5 million by the council this year, an increase of almost €300,000 on 2003. The Abbey also received €1 million from the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism this year for the centenary programme.