An emergency motion to save The Complex was been passed by Dublin City Council (DCC) last night.
The Green Party’s Janet Horner along with fellow councillors Fiona Connelly (Labour), Colm O’Rourke (Fine Gael) and Donna Cooney (GP) put forward a motion to save the venue now before it closes.
The motion calls for urgent action at government level to prevent the imminent closure of the arts space venue in Dublin, which is due to close tomorrow unless the government intervene.
The Complex will close unless Department of Finance/ Department of Public Expenditure government ministers take action to support the venue by making public funds available to purchase the venue, as the operators have tried to do for a while now.
This funding will unlock the remaining budget to allow The Complex in partnership with an Irish developer to convert the building on Arran Street East into a permanent home for The Complex, embracing a 500 capacity venue, a contemporary arts gallery, a 100 seat jazz club to house the Improvised Music Company and 16 artist studios.
Time is running out on the space, like so many before it in the city.
“The ball is now in the court of Ministers Simon Harris, Jack Chambers and Patrick O’Donovan, to put their money where their mouth is.” Horner said on Instagram.
In bringing the emergency motion, Horner said:
This is the absolute final last ditch effort to make Ministers Simon Harris (Finance), Jack Chambers (Public Expenditure and Patrick O’Donovan (Culture) act to save this space.
Artists are currently packing up their equipment with no idea where they will go next, unable to create their art, and the North Inner City and Dublin as a whole is losing its culture.
This is completely avoidable, everyone has said they want to save The Complex and that they support the arts, but actions speak louder than words and it’s time to see action from government.
In December, the venue hosted three nights of live music and performance under the name Groundswell to raise awareness of the venue’s closure, along with a public march to the Dail, an online petition and a public meeting which you can watch below.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
