Press Release

PRESS RELEASE Thursday, 28^th February 2008

ARTS MINISTER PERFORMS 'TOPPING OUT' CEREMONY FOR NEW €33m PURPOSE BUILT WEXFORD OPERA HOUSE

SÉAMUS BRENNAN- NEW FACILITY WILL ALSO DELIVER A YEAR ROUND PROGRAMME OF THEATRE, DANCE AND CULTURAL EVENTS THAT WILL DEEPEN AND EXPAND INTEREST IN ARTS, CULTURE & CREATIVITY IN REGION

The Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Séamus Brennan T.D., today (Thursday, 28^th February) performed the 'topping out' ceremony for the new €33 million Wexford Opera House in Wexford Town.

The Opera House- Ireland's first-purpose built state of the art opera house-will be up to four times larger than the previous theatrical facility on the site, the Theatre Royal, and seating capacity has been almost doubled.

Minister Brennan inspected the progress of the construction and announced the officially opening date in late September will be celebrated with a major gala event in advance of the 2008 Opera Festival programme at the end of October. The Minister also announced that the construction of the Wexford Opera House, Ireland's newest and much anticipated state-of-the-art, multi-purpose arts performing centres, is on budget and on schedule.

Project managed by the Office of Public Works, this landmark building, Ireland's first purpose-built 21^st Century Opera House, is nearing completion and will be handed over to Wexford Festival Opera this summer.

Set to open with a gala event in late September, the Wexford Opera House will ensure 41% more people can enjoy a wide variety of performances. Comprising a main auditorium seating 779 people and a second, highly flexible space with a seating capacity of 170, the new Opera House will be over four times bigger than the previous facility on the site, the Theatre Royal.

The new opera House has been funded by a €27 million investment by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, augmented by a further €7m raised by the Wexford Festival Foundation from the private sector. In addition to a vastly increased capacity, the stage performance area is twice the size of the previous and a dual orchestra pit lift means the main house will be able to host six operas every three days for the 18 days of the annual festival - an unprecedented level of opera activity in one building in Ireland.

Minister Brennan said: "It is already clear that this new building will set new standards for theatre design and, specifically, for opera house design in Ireland. Its ambition and achievement is therefore a matter of both regional and national significance and pride. A challenge for the new Opera House will be to successfully retain the intimate feeling that was the beloved hallmark of the old Theatre Royal, while at the same time providing new and very high quality facilities to both artists and public alike. Of course, in addition to the opera performances, the facility will also deliver a year round programme of theatre, dance and other cultural events which will make it central to the expanding and deepening of interest in arts, culture and creativity in the whole region. Moving from a once a year festival to a year round multi-layered cultural programme will present new challenges, but I am confident that the same spirit that created the Wexford Opera Festival, and sustained it through more than half a century, will again rise to meet the challenges and grasp the opportunities."

Minister Brennan said Wexford Festival Opera's origins are in the volunteer ethos and for over more than half a century it has retained many of the positive qualities associated with the volunteer ethos and an enthusiastic army of volunteers remains central to the importance of the event each year.

"However, as with so many arts organisations, over recent decades the festival has had to face the challenges of embracing the increasing professionalism of opera production", the Minister said. "To meet these challenges, Wexford Festival Opera has proven adept at resourcing its activities. It achieves an exceptionally high return at the box office and supplements this with an enviable track record in securing corporate sponsorship. This ability to earn income has been matched by significant investment of public funding, and increased levels of Arts Council grant aid has enabled the festival to continue to develop. As the expectations of artists and audiences alike have increased, so too has the bar risen in terms of the production values of what Wexford Festival Opera presents. This trend led it to conclude by the early 1990s that it must address the constraints on its ambitions represented by the limitations of the old Theatre Royal.

The board of Wexford Festival Opera therefore took the decision several years ago to redevelop the theatre on its original site. This required considerable courage, commitment and perseverance. It is widely acknowledged that the former CEO, the late and much lamented Jerome Hynes, played a central role in realising this vision."

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Further information- Tom Rowley, Press Advisor 087 8124723