A sad day for Irish movie lovers
The High Court has ordered the Light House cinema in Smithfield to be wound up. Stating this morning that mediation had been rejected and that exhaustive attempts to resolve the matter had been unsuccessful.
Speaking of his decision to raise the rent on the property, landlord John Flynn said there were a lot of “emotive soundbites” but critics did not take account that he was also subsidising its operations.
Flynn claims that he has been approached by two different cinema operators willing to take over if his dispute with his tenants was not resolved. We’ll believe it when we see it!
He said he was being painted in “theatrical terms as the bad guy, and that’s not going to change”, claiming the Lighthouse owes him €157,000 dating back to May 2010, when the rent was raised to €200,000 per year.
Speaking of this mornings High Court order, Light House Cinema co-founder Maretta Dillon said “We are amazed that neither the landlord, or according to him NAMA, was not prepared to recognize the need for flexibility in the current climate. We’d like to thank everyone we worked with in the film sector over the past three years and appreciate all their support.”