Project Arts Centre Competitors

Hosting over 1,000 events each year, we offer world class music, inspiring arts experiences and entertainment for all ages. Over four decades, the National Concert Hall has become more than a venue. It has evolved into an institution of which the nation is rightly proud, an icon of our musical legacy and its contemporary artistic vitality and creativity. The National Concert Hall is a statutory body established under the National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Act 2015. Its functions are a) to provide and operate, having regard to international standards and good practice, the national venue for the performance, appreciation and enjoyment of musical, creative, artistic and cultural activities including the promotion of concerts and recitals of artistic, educational and cultural value, (b) in the public interest, to promote and support the performance, knowledge, appreciation, creation and enjoyment of music as an integral part of Irish life, (c) to entertain, educate and engage the public through musical experiences, and (d) to encourage and promote inclusivity, participation, creativity, experimentation and involvement in music through engagement with diverse individuals and communities as performers, participants, composers or audience members. Sitting proudly on Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin’s city centre, our mission is to foster and celebrate the appreciation, knowledge, enjoyment and pure love of music as an integral part of Irish life. Visitors are inspired by the world class performances on our stages, and can equally experience and enjoy our iconic building through tours, early breakfast, afternoon tea or simply, quiet inspiration from walking through the picturesque Iveagh Gardens.

The Abbey Theatre is Ireland's National Theatre. The Abbey Theatre, founded by W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory, first opened its doors in 1904 to ‘bring upon the stage the deeper thoughts and emotions of Ireland’. Since then, it has played a vital and often controversial role in the literary, social and cultural life and landscape of Ireland. The Abbey’s reputation for presenting world-class productions has made it an ambassador for Irish arts and culture at home and abroad.

The Lyric Theatre in Belfast makes a unique and vital contribution to the community as the only full-time producing theatre in Northern Ireland. Employing local actors, including Liam Neeson, Ciarán Hinds and Adrian Dunbar at early stages of their careers, its mission is to produce high-quality professional theatre that is alive to the complex cultural experience and diverse traditions of the community, and to use the power of live theatre to empower, inspire, engage and educate. From first rehearsal to final curtain, the shows we create are truly indigenous products of Northern Ireland. Putting local issues and local characters centre stage is what the Lyric does best. Our shows are relevant to local audiences and revealing to visitors to the city. And a very important part of the new Lyric Theatre’s strategy is to tour as widely as possible, to give audiences outside Northern Ireland an insight into our culture and to the work of the Lyric. The Lyric’s new home on the banks of Belfast’s River Lagan, on the site of the previous theatre, is a landmark £18.1m building that signals the continued regeneration of the city and a catalyst for real progress in arts infrastructure for artists and audiences alike. Designed by O’Donnell + Tuomey, and built in a stunning blend of Belfast brick, glass, steel, concrete and Iroko timber, the new theatre will be alive and dramatic at all times.