The Irish Times

Planning approval for an office development on the site of the Academy cinema on Dublin's Pearse Street means that one of the capital's oldest and most distinguished performance spaces will be lost, at least for the foreseeable future. Although the building, long known as the Antient Concert Rooms but more recently called the Academy cinema, had been closed for more than a decade, its conversion to offices must still be regretted. This is a part of Dublin, after all, which was once rich in theatres, since not far away stood both the Theatre Royal and the Queen's Royal Theatre, which were demolished in the 1960s - ironically, in both instances, to make way for office blocks.