Patrick Barrett looks at how the idea for the Irish Film Centre came about, tracing the background from the original concept to its final construction.

The official opening of the £2.2m Irish Film Centre on 25 September represents the climax of more than eight years work. A proposal to construct a purpose-built centre for film culture was mooted back in 1984 by the Irish Film Institute. With the advent of the Film Board in 1981, the need for the IFI's involvement in the production aspect of film had diminished. Thus, the Film Centre was conceived primarily as a focus for the IFI's three main areas of operation - exhibition, education and the preservation of a film archive. Even before a site had been purchased, David Kavanagh, Director of the IFI, commissioned architects O'Donnell & Tuomey to draw up plans for the centre (plans that later won the coveted Downes Medal for Excellence, awarded by the Architectural Association of Ireland). Incredibly, the plans initially drawn up were for a different building completely than the one that has now become the Centre. That was before Kavanagh had found a perfect site in Eustace Street, in the city's Temple Bar area. First erected in 1690, the Meeting House for the Religious Society of Friends (or Quakers as they are more commonly known) was for sale, and the IFI quickly agreed terms for its purchase. It was to be another three years before the asking price was raised and the deeds changed hands.

Nevertheless, raising the finance for the purchase of the site was not as daunting as the later fund-raising for construction was to prove. The IFI already had an asset in its headquearters in Earlsfort Terrace, just a mile from the location of the Centre. With £55,000 from the sale of their HQ, a grant from the Irish Film Board of £50,000, and an award of £109,000 from the Arts Council, the IFI was able to secure ownership of the building in 1987. Soon, they and other organisations, including Film Base, had moved their operations into Eustace Street. At this point, the serious business of finding £2 million to build the Centre was undertaken. In 1989, a young producer called Laura Magahy was hired to raise the necessary funding. Over an 18 month period, she had succeeded in raising the bulk of the finance. Money came in first form the National Lottery (via the Arts Council) which contributed £400,000. Next, the European Community gave a massive £625,000 towards the scheme from its urban renewal programme (since the site was situated in what was now a designated area for redevelopment). After that, a further £375,000 came from Bórd Fáilte as part of its brief to support capital projects which would attract more tourism. With the bulk of finances in place, construction began in the autumn of 1991.

Before this, the Arts Council had effectively taken control of the project by setting up a company, Irish Film Centre Building Ltd, to oversee the management of financing and construction. Magahy was to move from the IFI to take over as Chief Executive of IFCB as the project progressed. The Arts Council awarded £200,000 towards the costs in 1992, while tax breaks accounted for a further £200,000. This still leaves a shortfall of £200,000, which the IFC hope to raise through sponsorship.

The management of the Centre is at present in the hands of two organisations. The IFC, under manager John Hogan, is responsible for the conference facilities, bar, restaurant, maintenance, security and rents. The IFI has a mandate to operate the two cinemas and the archive. It is felt that this dual control is likely to lead, at some point down the line, to operational problems arising from the incoherence of the organisational structure and control once the Centre is up and running. It is believed that a proposal to merge the IFI and IFC is under consideration at the moment, and if successfully resolved, would provide a clear structure of control over the Center, and would probably prove the best solution in the long run.

This article was printed in Film Ireland 31 (Sep/Oct 1992).