Cinema falls victim to Ireland’s greedy landlord culture…
John Flynn, the landlord of Dublin’s LIGHTHOUSE cinema, has issued a wind-up petition against ‘Light House Cinema Exhibition and Distribution Company Limited’, resulting from a rent dispute on the Smithfield premises.
The cinema is operated by Neil Connolly and Maretta Dillon, who ran the original two-screen Lighthouse Cinema on Middle Abbey Street until it closed in the mid ‘90s.
The cinema board are meeting today “to decide what action it is to take” ahead of a High Court hearing of a petition to wind up the company. According to The Irish Times, the landlord doubled the yearly rent from €100,000 to €200,000 last summer. The directors have withheld a portion of the rent charged.
The cinema remains open and is currently showing Animal Kingdom, Route Irish, Submarine & Fair Game. Check out cinema times here.