Screen cinema in Dublin closes

Cult cinema closes due to falling ticket sales.

Dublin’s Screen Cinema, located opposite Trinity College on the corner of Townsend Street and Hawkins Street, closed down on 29 February after more than 30 years in business.

Cinema managment blame diminishing ticket sales for the closure of the landmark cinema which was known for its quirky art-house programming, including independent and foreign language movies.

Originally called The New Metropole, the cinema opened in 1972 on the site of the old Regal cinema which operated from 1938 until its demolition in 1962.

It was renamed the Screen in 1984 and became the sister cinema to the Savoy on nearby O'Connell Street. Over the last three decades it attracted a cult audience and also hosted the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival since its inception in 2002.

However the cinema's annual audience of 200,000 a decade ago is believed to have gradually dwindled by three quarters.

The cinema's closure was preceded by the removal of the popular bronze sculpture, known as Mr Screen – the squat, mustachioed, torch-holding cinema usher.