The recent public declarations of goodwill towards the Abbey Theatre - including an Irish Times/TNS mrbi opinion poll showing strong backing for public funding - is a boost it needs right now.
The report of the Restructuring Working Group, set up to consider proposals for the theatre's future, contains a succinct summary of the problems challenging the institution: "over-extended, under-funded and in need of considerable restructuring".
The report's authors, representing management, unions, staff and freelance artists, are unequivocal in identifying the seriousness of a whole range of issues that must be dealt with - artistic policy, management structures, funding, staffing, audience and marketing development, as well as governance. This evaluation of the difficult situation in the Abbey has been done in a spirit of "honest self-examination" which, hopefully, signals a way towards securing the future of our National Theatre.
The board and executive, in their response, have indicated a commitment to change and renewal in order to restore the Abbey to a viable position. It is clear from this report that the lack of consultation prior to issuing a redundancy plan last month has done great damage to morale and management-staff relationships. That now has to be put right by the continued involvement of a clearly committed staff in the process ahead. However, the working group acknowledges that a reduction in staff numbers is still very much part of the remedy.
Of some significance is the board's promise of "early action" to ensure clearer lines of "decision-making, authority, responsibility". The appointment of a new artistic director provides the opportunity to do this in an imaginative way that eschews the more traditional placing of a theatre director in the position. However, the artistic remit of the theatre must never be allowed to become the victim of commercial imperatives.
The Arts Council will now conduct its own independent review and come to its own views. While it might be tempting for the council to propose that the National Theatre should receive direct funding from Government, like a number of other national cultural institutions, this would be a grave mistake. The remit and independence of a National Theatre requires the cordon sanitaire between it and the State that the council provides.
It has always been baffling that a cultural institution with such a strong reputation abroad, particularly in the United States, could not have been more successful in capitalising on this in the form of private donations. A lot more proactive effort in the future has to follow this year's centenary fund-raising.