Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il have shown they see no value in artistic and cultural endeavour through their inaction which has led to the closure of The Complex, according to Social Democrats arts and culture spokesperson Sin\u00e9ad Gibney.<\/p>\n
Deputy Gibney said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Complex, the multidisciplinary arts centre in Dublin\u2019s North Inner City, announced its permanent closure last night due to the failure of government to take action to retain the space.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an immeasurable blow for arts and culture in Dublin – the centre\u2019s programme for 2026, which included events, residencies and exhibitions, has now been cancelled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Complex\u2019s CEO, Vanessa Fielding, said that their efforts to save the venue had \u201cbeen frustrated by an inflexible landlord, focused exclusively on achieving vacant possession, to maximise the redevelopment value of the site\u201d – the government\u2019s handling of this conundrum shows their priorities are all wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis coalition has shown government after government that it\u2019s more than willing to overspend on basic projects, such as spending over \u20ac1.7 million on a bike shed and security hut for Leinster House, yet the Department of Culture showed no willingness to save The Complex – Dublin\u2019s North Inner City has now lost one of its few remaining art spaces.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a government which talks endlessly about how intrinsic cultural pursuits are to Irish identity, it\u2019s shown it is unwilling to put its money where its mouth is when the survival of this sector is at risk.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis situation calls into question the Minister for Arts & Culture\u2019s dedication to the pursuits he\u2019s supposed to protect and promote – I\u2019m calling on Minister O\u2019Donovan to explain the rationale behind allowing this space to close, and what he plans to do to remedy this loss.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy heart goes out to all of the staff, artists and local residents affected – The Complex served Dublin\u2019s North Inner City for 18 years, and its absence will be strongly felt by all those in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
January 16th, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il have shown they see no value in artistic and cultural endeavour through their inaction which has led to the closure of The Complex, according to Social Democrats arts and culture spokesperson Sin\u00e9ad Gibney. Deputy Gibney said: \u201cThe Complex, the multidisciplinary arts centre in Dublin\u2019s North Inner City, announced its permanent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12547,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[675,7,497],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-press-release","category-sinead-gibney"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n