themselves. In 1975, for instance, Sir Anton Dolin, Toni Beck and John Gilpin came to Cork to produce some of their works with the company. The Israeli choreographer, Domy Reiter-Soffer, who had been a member of Irish Theatre Ballet, became the company's artistic advisor and created many new works of great range in theme and type. The company had a number of striking successes between 1978-81. Moriarty's ballet, based on Synge's The Playboy of the Western World, was commissioned for the Dublin Theatre Festival of 1978, with music played live by The Chieftains, was acclaimed. It went from Dublin to Cork to Belfast, to New York, to Sadler's Wells Theatre in London, and to Rennes in France. In 1981, the Dublin Theatre Festival commissioned Moriarty again; she created a 3-act ballet based on the old Irish epic The Táin; Fleischmann composed the music, and Patrick Murray designed the sets. On the strength of these achievements, the government agreed in 1983 to the company changing its name to Irish National Ballet. Cutbacks The 1980s was a period of severe recession in Ireland. The Arts Council's budget was reduced amid increasing demands for the shrinking funds. In 1982 the Council ceased funding the Gate Theatre, the Dublin Theatre Festival and the Irish Theatre Company, the country's touring theatre company, continuing to support only the iconic Abbey Theatre. The Council allotted a mere 7.6% of its budget to dance, and a large portion of that went to Irish National Ballet, though the grant was not substantial enough to keep the company out of debt. Contemporary dance groups and other dance organisations sought change in the distribution of the funds. In 1985 the Council commissioned the distinguished dance expert Peter Brinson to report on dance in Ireland. The report proposed a sharp reduction of the already inadequate budget of the Irish National Ballet, while requiring it to incur greater expenses through increased touring and procuring the funds needed from corporate sources. It was critical of Moriarty, who resigned in the autumn of 1985. Moriarty was succeeded by the Finnish dancer and choreographer, Anneli Vourenjuuri-Robinson, who sought to implement a three-year plan accepted by the Arts Council. But in 1988 the Council decided to withdraw its grant before the end of the three-year period, and also terminated funding for Dublin Contemporary Dance Theatre. The Office of the Taoiseach thereupon gave Irish National Ballet a special