The Complex arts centre shuts down as crunch talks with council and Government fail
Dublin arts venue The Complex will shut down following the failure of last-minute crunch talks between venue management, Government and Dublin City Council (DCC) to find an alternative venue or purchase their current premises.
In a statement this afternoon, artistic director of The Complex, Vanessa Fielding, said that “despite prolonged engagement and repeated reassurances” from these bodies, “no workable solution was delivered”.
"The loss of The Complex represents a failure of cultural policy, accountability, and long-term planning within the public system,” she wrote.
Ms Fielding said efforts had also been “frustrated by an inflexible landlord, focused exclusively on achieving vacant possession, to maximise the redevelopment value of the site.”
“This outcome stands in direct contradiction to stated commitments to support Irish arts, cultural employment, and equitable access to cultural life in Dublin,” she said.
The Complex said it had supported hundreds of artists, designers, technicians, producers and more in the north inner city, providing sustained cultural infrastructure in an area with “limited access to the arts.”
The multidisciplinary arts space, which has occupied its current premises on Arran Street East in Dublin 7 since 2019, was in December issued with a notice to quit by the middle of this month. A major campaign to ‘Save The Complex’ was launched by the venue in response.
In this week’s council meeting, Lord Mayor Ray McAdam said he had contacted the owners of the building twice requesting an extension to the lease, but that he had received a firm ‘no’ in response.
Labour councillor Fiona Connelly said she felt the notice to quit was “an unfair deadline” considering the goodwill on all sides to find a solution.
Mr McAdam said he shares Ms Connelly’s view, but “as Lord Mayor, I wrote to them and was told no.”
Green Party councillor Donna Cooney, herself an artist, previously told the Irish Independent that the news was “devastating”, and urged DCC to part-fund the building alongside the Department of Finance, securing The Complex’s future in the city.
Ray Yeates, the council’s arts officer, said the authority would be open to purchasing the building, but only if 80 or 90pc of the funding came from central government.
The Department of Finance said it was not involved in funding for the venue, and that it was a matter for the Department of Culture.
A spokesperson for the Department of Culture said it provides grants for maintaining and enhancing arts facilities, but not for purchasing buildings.