The Aladdin pantomime in the National Stadium has been cancelled - with organisers Alan Hughes and Karl Broderick saying they were "devastated" to have to announce the news.
Covid-19 restrictions and complications mean that the panto - which had begun running earlier in December and was set to run until January - will now not be able to complete its stint.
A statement from Alan and husband Karl read: "We are devastated to announce that due to new restrictions and ongoing and increasing concern, Aladdin at the National Stadium can no longer continue its run.
"We apologise wholeheartedly for any inconvenience and upset as we understand just how much our panto means to our loyal audience. We have tried everything in our power to keep going but we now accept that this is impossible. We are heartbroken as our cast and crew are eager to deliver our fabulous show to all our panto fans.
"We have a duty of care to our cast, crew and of course you, our loyal audience, that we take very seriously. Please know this was not an easy decision and is beyond our control.
"We appreciate your continued support and we say Tanx a thousand and Happy Christmas.
"Right now, our dedicated box office is asking that the public be patient and please bear with us and they will contact all patrons in the coming days regarding bookings.
"We would like to acknowledge and thank Minister Catherine Martin and her department for their ongoing assistance and guidance during this difficult time.
Previously, Alan had explained just how much effort had gone in to getting the panto up and running.
“We’ve already invested €300,000 into the show and we will be investing more. That’s money myself and Karl are just investing, we’re not big massive producers with big backgrounds. We’re small, local producers who put on our own panto every year and have been for 26 years. We’ve never seen anything like this.” he told the Irish Times in November.
