Businessman donates £1m to Lyric Theatre
Howard Lake | 26 June 2007 | News
One of the wealthest businessmen in Ireland has donated £1 million towards the building of a new Lyric Threatre in Belfast. Dr Martin Naughton and his wife Carmel contributed what is the biggest personal gift ever made to an arts organisation towards the cost of a new building on the present site.
The couple’s generosity will be recognised by the naming of one of the two theatres within the new building as the Naughton Studio. The Naughton Gallery at Queen’s University, Belfast was similarly named after another generous donation by the couple.
The Naughtons, who live in the Republic, recently visited the Lyric. They said they had been inspired by the distinguished history of the Lyric, by the passion and creativity of the artists who work here, by the enormous impact which the Lyric has within the community and by its exciting vision for the future.
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We are delighted to be joining the Lyric’s campaign at this critical stage and to be playing our part in the transformation of Northern Ireland’s cultural landscape.
Prof Sir George Bain, chairman of the Lyric Theatre Fundraising Committee, said £14 million had now been raised to add to funding from public sources – with just £2 million more to be secured.
It means that we are on our way – the new Lyric is very close from being a dream to becoming a reality, he said.
Sir George said he hoped others would be encouraged by the Naughtons’ donation to contribute to the building fund and may launch a campaign to have patrons sponsor a brick or seat.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.