The Irish Times

The relocation of the Abbey Theatre to the site of the old Carlton cinema in Dublin's O'Connell Street has re-emerged as a possibility following a High Court judgment yesterday which is expected to clear the way for the redevelopment of the upper part of the street. Redevelopment has been stalled since the late 1990s, most recently by a court challenge to a compulsory purchase order by Dublin City Council on the site. Following yesterday's judgment which dismissed the challenge, Dublin city manager John Fitzgerald said the council would be happy to have the Carlton site reconsidered by the Government as a new home for the Abbey Theatre. The current building on Abbey Street is considered to be too small and in increasingly bad repair. An expert group from the Department of Arts and the Office of Public Works had considered the Carlton site last year but ruled it out because of the continuing legal wrangle and in favour of the former Coláiste Mhuire school site in Parnell Square.