With new performance centres dotted all over the country, the EU structural-funds construction boom has certainly paid off in the arts. Now Tallaght, Dun Laoghaire, Blanchardstown and Coolock, in the greater Dublin area, are to receive significant new theatres and arts centres by 1999. However, a great many questions have to be answered as to what will fill them, what audiences they are likely to attract and, most importantly, how they will be funded. But nonetheless, having been allocated funding under the EU's Cultural Development Employment Scheme (CDIS) from the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands - and having attracted 25 per cent matching funding, they are, as the fellah said, "all tied up on paper".

The proposal for Blanchardstown, at least a decade in the offing, made few headlines in May with the announced appointments of a project manager and a hand-picked, high-powered board (Moya Doherty, and promoter Oliver Barry, among others).

The new three-storey building, due to begin construction in November on a green field site opposite the main entrance to the new shopping centre, will contain workshops, rehearsal rooms, (eventually) broadcasting and recording studios, an art gallery and a flexible 250-seat auditorium, with a removable back wall - along the lines of The Ark in Temple Bar - to play to a 2000-seat outdoor arena.

Designed by Fingal County Council architect David O'Connor, it will cost close to £3 million. Under the CDIS, it was awarded £1.1 million by the Department, with matching funding from the local authority (£160,000), and surprisingly, £200,000 from Green, the company which controls the shopping complex. Green also agreed to pass over the title of the centre to the council, which will license a new company to operate it.

Construction will begin in November - probably about the same time as a similar project in Dun Laoghaire (see panel below) - and there are even hopes to "fast-track it" open by May, which seems unlikely. Alan Connolly, chair of the board and long instrumental in the local steering committee, says: "When you consider the site, worth about half a million, and the architect's fees, taken care of by the local council, you're talking about up to £750,000, and we're now looking at raising another £1 million."

Another heady idea, but originating from within the local authority itself (the CDIS application was speedily processed) is the £2 million-plus Civic Theatre in Tallaght, which has drawn £1.1 million in CDIS funds. Designed by local authority architect Eddie Conroy, it will consist of a 300-seat theatre and a small 80-seat studio, a bar, cafeteria, foyer exhibition space, and a canopy opening on to a public square for outdoor performances.

According to Billy Coman, Community Officer at the South Dublin County Council, "a major gap was seen in the arts and culture area, which is particularly vibrant here in Tallaght - so we've more than matched the CDIS funding up to £1.86 million".

Although everything is in place, legally and financially, there is as yet no board, management or programme. "But that's not going to stop us," says Coman. "We're happy that it will be very viable, and the council is going to continue to back it. We intend it to be a source of considerable local pride, as well as establishing a much wider reputation."

Meanwhile, Woodville House in Coolock, under the Northside Partnership, is being renovated as a multi-purpose arts centre - a three-storey Eastern Health Board building, now handed over to provide studio and rehearsal studios for bands, drama and dance groups, a gallery, a cafe and, in a new extension, a small 100-seat theatre.

Chairperson Helen Lehart (who works with Coolock Arthouse, now running such initiatives as the Coolock festival), says: "With all the research and funding work, we've had little enough time to develop the programme, but it's well grounded in all sorts of community groups, schools and local events - but our main aim is to become a centre of excellence for arts and disability."

Awarded £300,000 by the Department, the centre has been able to provide matching funding through a malicious damages claim of £60,000 on the building. Also looking likely are funds for training in film and video from Horizon, a European Funding scheme for Arts and Disability, as well as enthusiasm from the local arts officer, Jack Gilligan.

There is no doubt about the need for such amenities within catchment areas which dwarf many provincial capitals - some in areas recognised as disadvantaged. Particularly in the latter, the projects are a real achievement for the promoters, who, having generated enormous goodwill, have weathered the long, bureaucratic maze of conditions laid down by EU and Department officials. These include 25 per cent matching funding, assurances that centres can be kept running, the consideration that the CDIS comes under the Operational Programme for Tourism - a complex jigsaw of elements.

All four new centres look to local authorities for revenue funding - as well as FAS, the Eastern Health Board (which distributes National Lottery funds), Forbairt, and educational sources - but the question arises as to the role of the Arts Council. With an exploding list of new centres and creative clients, not to mention its recent rise in staffing levels, the council will need a significant hike in its base funding - a factor in the hands of the new government, which will have to make decisions on the Labour-inspired Arts Plan, which should see the Arts Council achieving an allocation of £26 million next year.

With less than a year to serve, the current council has always seen the need for capital development. Its 1993 document "A Capital Programme For The Arts" became the basis of the Department's submission to the EU, and the Arts Council played an advisory role in disbursing CDIS funds - the full £20.6 million now fully allocated. The council has also encouraged the growth in arts centres through a stream of publications and its new development unit is likely to have its hands full with the sheer number of new venues, let alone the cost, should it subsidise them.

So, after absorbing much of the initial whack of matching funds, it looks as if local authorities will play a leading role in the upkeep of the new venues, with some at best in a 50/50 partnership funding arrangement between the Arts Council and local authorities, along the lines of the Watergate theatre in Kilkenny.

There's also the issue of the impact of the new theatres on existing Dublin houses. Considering the cost of coming into the city centre, the effect might at first be negative, but the greatest potential of these venues is to create new audiences in their own satellite centres of population - analagous to the success of the suburban multiplex cinemas.

For touring companies, both regional and Dublin-based, the value of these new theatres is obvious, enabling them to extend the life of their productions in modern, purpose-built venues.

O Dalaigh, who enjoyed good relations with the South Dublin Council in bringing Les Danaides to Tallaght, will also appreciate new venues to play with. The new venues also fill a serious gap in Dublin - the sad lack of a state-of-the-art medium-range venue with manageable overheads. Mind you, they come onstream in 1999, around the same time as the new 250-seat Project, when the theatrical map of Dublin will look very different.

In the meantime, the venue-crisis continues, while the long-suffering Vesuvius group has moved on to yet another proposal within the designated HARP area in the north-inner city. Planning permission has been granted to Harry Crosbie's development in Thomas Street, which includes a 600-seat auditorium, currently christened The Christie Moore Centre for the Performing Arts. Most recently, Rough Magic has launched a feasibility study into the costs and implications of running its own venue.

When the new venues look to buy in touring shows, it's back to the issue of programming funds; just one of a series of questions left unanswered - despite the Department's stringent specifications - in the race to nail down the structural funds. One can understand the breathless optimism of project promoters talking of "acts of faith", yet how can the new centres achieve appropriate levels of subsidy without affecting the "content-providers" who suddenly come centre-stage when it comes to actually filling them?

According to the Department, the issue of current funding has already been addressed through the requirements of the lengthy CDIS application process; nonetheless, all eyes will swivel to the new Minister, Sile de Valera.