Praise and sorrow as ESB brings down the curtain

The ESB was thanked for its "hugely significant and generous contribution" towards helping to make the Irish Times/ESB Theatre Awards possible, at the presentation of the awards in Dublin on Sunday night.

Mr Gerry Smyth, managing editor of The Irish Times, said that "together we have had a successful and lengthy run with this corporate double act".

Among the approximately 500 guests at the black tie event in the Burlington Hotel in Dublin were the ESB chairman, Mr Tadhg O'Donoghue, and the managing director of The Irish Times, Ms Maeve Donovan.

At the eighth awards ceremony, Mr Smyth was announcing "the end of what has been an exceptional co-operative relationship with our ESB colleagues". The ESB "came on board with necessary levels of enthusiasm, commitment - and cash", he said.

The newspaper plans to continue with the awards "in the hope that in due course we might form a new partnership", said Mr Smyth. "Longevity and consistency were very much part of the thinking" when the awards were first set up, he said.

He thanked the 2004 judges, Ms Dolores Lyne, Mr Phelim Donlon and Mr Tony Ó Dálaigh, for abundant dedication and extraordinary personal commitment to the task they were given.

He said: "Our judges do go on to greater things - some even end up with their own theatre" - and congratulated Fiach Mac Conghail, who was a judge for the 2001 awards, on his appointment as director of the Abbey Theatre.

Mr Smyth paid tribute to American playwright Arthur Miller, who died last Friday. "He himself said: 'Plays that pass the time, well, they pass with time.' No chance of that ever happening to Miller's work," said Mr Smyth.

The chief executive of the ESB, Mr Pádraig McManus, said it was with regret that a year ago the electricity board announced that it would continue the sponsorship of the awards for just one more year.

"As you will appreciate, sponsorships by their nature are finite - they do not go on forever," he said. "The English Premiership did not always bear the name Barclays, and perhaps in 10 years will have yet another title."

The company's involvement had been "a most worthwhile project for us", Mr McManus said. He contrasted the current state of Irish theatre with what prevailed when the awards began in 1997 - 35 new theatres and arts centres have been funded under programmes launched by arts ministers Michael D. Higgins and Síle de Valera, the last of which will open this year.

An unprecedented 34 theatre companies and venues were nominated for the 2004 awards - "a tribute to the current diversity of Irish theatre", he said - and the judges attended 160 productions throughout the island of Ireland last year. Mr McManus also paid tribute to Maureen Potter, Deirdre O'Connell and photographer Fergus Bourke, who died in 2004.

The chairman of the judging panel, Mr Phelim Donlon, said the attendance at the ceremony had come together "to celebrate an outstanding year in Irish theatre".

The judges saw 27 new plays, performed by many new companies, he said.

He congratulated the Abbey Theatre on an "extraordinary, rich, and vibrant" programme with which it celebrated its centenary last year. It had been "truly a landmark year".

There was a collective sigh of relief in the arts community at the cabinet reshuffle when the Minister, Mr John O'Donoghue, retained his position, he said.

"Thank you, Minister," said Mr Donlon. While much had been done, there was more to do, he remarked.