The Dublin cultural and arts space The Complex has announced it was told to quit all activity by January 14th 2026.
The news was shared briefly with an Instagram post with no further explanation.
Update: after the petition below shared today, The Complex shared more details saying:
“The Complex can still be saved.
The opportunity is still open for the Department of Finance to resolve it by committing the primary tranche of funding towards its purchase. 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.
The Complex is a client of the Arts Council and Dublin City Council and is renowned for its inclusive and diverse multi-disciplinary programme of work in a space that is not replicated elsewhere in the city.
There is time to save it and ensure that this vital part of cultural infrastructure is not lost.”
The Complex is a large, multipurpose arts centre, that was formerly used as a fruit warehouse, in Dublin’s north inner city that hosts live music, arts, exhibitions and gatherings, on Arran Street East, between Smithfield and Capel Street.
It also houses 17 artist studios and The Cooler, a smaller mostly jazz and contemporary music space, which was formerly a Banana storage facility.
It previously housed Dublin Digital Radio, and has hosted events like OUCH, Hardware, Temporary Pleasure, Nextus, NYE parties, Alternating Currents, Musictown, Slaughterhouse, Dublin Dance Festival and more.
The Complex is run as a registered charity. It was previously known that the lease would expire at the end of 2025, and the original plan spearheaded by CEO / Artistic Director Vanessa Fielding to buy it outright as was told to the Irish Times in 2022, if not renew the lease. The status of that plan now seems to be in jeopardy if the building’s owners are kicking the arts organisation out of the space.
It’s not entirely clear if this was a surprise to The Complex or if it was an accelerated notice.
A petition has been launched by the Complex to save the building which has already reached nearly 6000 signatures.
They wrote:
Today The Complex cultural and arts space announced they are being evicted on January 14th. We need urgent action to save the building.
We need Dublin City Council , Politicians and The Arts Council to take actionSign this petition to show we care about cultural spaces!
Dublin is running out of places to gather, create, and celebrate.
Now The Complex an arts space that is home to exhibitions, gigs, sober raves, storytelling events, over-the-top wrestling, and even an early Fontaines D.C. show is being forced out on 14 January 2026.
It’s one of the last large independent event spaces we have left.
And its eviction comes after more than a decade of losses: Jigsaw, Block T, Mabos,the Tivoli Theatre, Hangar, OG Bernard Shaw and many others.
Each time a space disappears, so does a community. Dublin doesn’t just have a housing crisis it also has a culture crisis.
We’re losing the places where art happens, where new scenes form, where people come together….
On the same day we learned that Ormond Arts Studios‘ lease is up after 15 years.This latest news is all too familiar to Dublin’s cultural space practitioners.
See the list of recent venue closures in the city.
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.
