grant for a year. Domy Reiter-Soffer and Patrick Murray directed the company during that time. The Arts Council did not reconsider its decision and the company's last ballet was Reiter-Soffer's Oscar based on the life of Oscar Wilde, set to music by Sir Arnold Bax, performed in Dublin, Cork and Belfast. In 1989 Irish National Ballet had to be disbanded. A Home for National Irish Ballet From 1973, appropriate accommodation was needed for the professional ballet company, which was operating in unsuitable premises. The Firkin Crane, the former centre of Cork's international butter trade, was put up for sale in 1979. Moriarty applied successfully to the Arts Council to have it bought for the Irish Ballet Company. A Trust Fund was set up to secure the finance for the rebuilding with former Taoiseach Jack Lynch as president. Cork City Council supported the undertaking; funding was also obtained from the Irish government, the European Union, Irish businesses and the American Ireland Fund. Planning started in 1982, and building in 1985. When Irish National Ballet closed in 1989, the Firkin Crane was designated to become the Dance Centre of the city. It opened in April 1992, three months after Moriarty's death. Artistic Achievement Towards a new ballet style Moriarty had a double dance training: she trained in ballet and in traditional Irish dance. This, together with her musical competence, provided a sound basis on which to develop a new type of ballet. She based many of her ballets on Irish mythology, legend and folklore. In this regard she was following in the footsteps of the writers of the previous generation, who had brought elements of speech deriving from the Irish language into their literary works and had drawn on the Gaelic literary heritage for their material. Aloys Fleischmann had a similar aim with regard to music. Both he and Moriarty sought to create a specifically Irish form of their respective arts with works on Irish themes, fusing elements of the Irish traditional heritage with the classical forms. The music for the dance Moriarty commissioned new music for many of her Irish ballets. Seán Ó Riada, A. J. Potter, and Dame Elizabeth Maconchy Le Fanu orchestrated works originally written for the piano: Puck Fair (1948), Papillons (1952), and Full Moon for the Bride (1974). Redmond Friel composed the music for The Children of Lír (1950). Three ballets were set to Seán Ó Riada's