Light House Cinema, Smithfield threatened with closure

The board of the Light House Cinema in Smithfield, Dublin met on Tuesday, 22nd March  to discuss its future ahead of a High Court hearing of a petition to wind up the company.

The cinema’s landlord, John Flynn, has issued the wind-up petition following a dispute about the rent on the premises.

The cinema says its annual rent was doubled in May 2010, from €100,000 to €200,000.

It says it is not in a position to pay the increased rent and has been trying to negotiate with Mr Flynn.

It has sought legal advice in relation to Mr Flynn’s move, which they became aware of last Friday.

The Lighthouse Cinema opened in Smithfield in May 2008 as a four-screen, 600-seat ‘cultural cinema which presents a diverse and individual programme of the best Irish, independent, foreign-language, arthouse and classic cinema.’

It benefited from grants totaling €1.75 million from the Department of Arts and the Cultural Cinema Consortium, a joint initiative of the Arts Council and the Irish Film Board.

It currently employs 20 people and says box office receipts for the first two months of this year have been ‘the best yet.’

It was hoped the cinema would be part of a cultural hub in Smithfield, but several retail units in the area are empty and other proposed developments have been put on hold.

Tags: Light House Cinema

Category: News