The gorgeous Lighthouse Cinema in Dublin's Smithfield is facing a battle to stay open, after its landlord doubled the rent, according to The Irish Times.
The rent on the immaculately designed basement venue has reportedly been doubled from €100,000 a year to €200,000. The directors of the cinema have withheld a portion of the rent charged since it was raised last May, resulting in landlord John Flynn issuing a wind-up petition against Light House Cinema Exhibition and Distribution Company Limited. The cinema took grants from the Department of Arts and the Cultural Cinema Consortium, a joint initiative of the Arts Council and the Irish Film Board, totalling €1.75 million when it was being fitted out. If it shut down, that would be a monumental waste of a grant that could've went elsewhere.
The first I heard about this was this morning reading The Irish Times article, but I'm staggered as to how anyone can raise the rent in the current climate - especially given the amount of empty shops around there. I don't know the intricacies of the situation, but The Lighthouse really is a top class cinema, and deserves to stay open - if it closed it would be disastrous for the surrounding restaurants not just their own staff. Fingers crossed the situations is resolved amicably.