Ward Anderson was a

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ...

chain in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

until 2013. It was the largest chain in Ireland and operated cinemas throughout

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. It was not a single company but was a group of companies such as Provincial Cinemas Ltd., the Dublin Cinema Group, the Green Group, and so on, owned by its founders, half brothers Leo Ward (born 1919) and Kevin Anderson (born 1915),''Historical Dictionary of Irish Cinema'' by Roderick Flynn and Patrick Brerton. Scarecrow Press, Lanham, 2007. and its brands were managed by members of their families. Until it was divided in 2013, the group ran two main chains -

Omniplex Cinemas Omniplex Cinemas is a cinema chain in Ireland set up in 1991. It is operated by Paul Anderson. It operates cinemas throughout Ireland. In 2013, Omniplex began a €14.5m investment and renovation in a number of its cinemas including the rolling o ...

and

Irish Multiplex Cinemas Irish Multiplex Cinemas (or the IMC Cinema Group) is a cinema chain in Ireland. It operates cinemas throughout Ireland and Northern Ireland. It was part of the Ward Anderson company until 2013, when it was split between IMC and Omniplex Cinema ...

- which operated in many provincial towns in Ireland. The typical cinema owned by the group had between five and ten screens. They also used the Cineplex brand name. The group's companies owned 23 cinemas in Ireland and 12 cinemas in Northern Ireland. The group's flagship was the

Savoy Cinema The Savoy Cinema is the oldest operational cinema in Dublin, and it is the preferred cinema in Ireland for film premières. History The cinema was built in 1929 by Meagher & Hayes, on the site of the old Granville Hotel. The luxurious auditori ...

O'Connell Street O'Connell Street () is a street in the centre of Dublin, Ireland, running north from the River Liffey. It connects the O'Connell Bridge to the south with Parnell Street to the north and is roughly split into two sections bisected by Henry S ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

. It also owned the

Screen Cinema The Screen Cinema was a three-screen cinema in Hawkins Street, Dublin, Ireland. History The cinema had been operating since 1984, showing world cinema, and independent and Irish films. The Screen Cinema, originally named The New Metropole, ope ...

D'Olier Street D'Olier Street ( ) is a street in the southern city-centre of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. It and Westmoreland Street are two broad streets whose northern ends meet at the southern end of O'Connell Bridge over the River Liffey. Its southern ...

, which tends to show more alternative films.

Split

The two families fell out after the Andersons signed a deal to build a cinema on the Stephen's Green shopping centre, without notifying, or involving the Ward's in the new cinema. The new cinema would have been in direct competition with their jointly owned cinemas in

city centre, The Savoy, and The Screen. This resulted in a long-running legal struggle that led to a major case in Four Courts in which the Ward and Anderson families eventually agreed to split their cinema empire in January 2013. The agreement to divide the assets allocated 23 cinemas to the Anderson family including the 13-screen Cork Omniplex and 22 other cinemas in their Omniplex Cinemas Group. The Ward family were allocated 12 cinemas in their Irish Multiplex Cinemas group, including the Savoy and

Screen Screen or Screens may refer to: Arts * Screen printing (also called ''silkscreening''), a method of printing * Big screen, a nickname associated with the motion picture industry * Split screen (filmmaking), a film composition paradigm in which mul ...

cinemas in Dublin. Paul Ward and Paul Anderson, who are the sons of the co-founders of the Ward Anderson Group, Leo Ward and Kevin Anderson, operate each of the cinema chains separately.

Former Cinema locations

Ireland

* Athlone (IMC) 6 Screen * Ballina (Cineplex) 6 Screen * Carlow (Omniplex Digital) 8 Screen * Clonmel (Omniplex) 5 Screen *

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

(Omniplex) 13 Screen * Drogheda (Omniplex) 4 Screen *

(

) 6 Screen *

(

) 3 Screen *

(Swan Omniplex) 4 Screen *

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built following the 1816 legislation that allowed the building of a major port to serve Dubli ...

(IMC) 13 Screen *

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

(IMC) 7 Screen *

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

(IMC) 10 Screen * Kilkenny (Omniplex) 4 Screen *

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Cast ...

(IMC) 5 Screen *

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

(Omniplex) 12 Screen * Longford (Omniplex) 4 Screen *

Mullingar Mullingar ( ; ) is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. It is the third most populous town in the Midland Region, with a population of 20,928 in the 2016 census. The Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act 1543 proclaimed Westmeath ...

(IMC) 6 Screen *

Oranmore Oranmore ( or ''Úarán Mór'') is a town near the city of Galway in County Galway, Ireland. It is also the name of the civil parish and Roman Catholic parish in which the town lies. It is east of Galway city on the edge of Oranmore Bay, an i ...

(IMC) 6 Screen *

Santry Santry () is a suburb on the northside of Dublin, Ireland, bordering Coolock, Glasnevin, Kilmore and Ballymun. It straddles the boundary of Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council jurisdictions. The character of the area has changed ...

(IMC) 11 Screen *

Tallaght ) , image_skyline = TallaghtDublinD24.jpg , image_caption = Tallaght, Dublin , image_flag = , flag_size = , pushpin_map = Dublin#Ireland , pushpin_label_position = left , ...

(IMC) 14 Screen *

Thurles Thurles (; ''Durlas Éile'') is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located in the civil parish of the same name in the barony of Eliogarty and in the ecclesiastical parish of Thurles. The cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Arc ...

(IMC) 5 Screen *

Tralee Tralee ( ; ga, Trá Lí, ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the Lee River') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in Count ...

(Omniplex) 8 Screen *

Tullamore Tullamore (; ) is the county town of County Offaly in Ireland. It is on the Grand Canal, in the middle of the county, and is the fourth most populous town in the midlands region with 14,607 inhabitants at the 2016 census. The town retained ...

(IMC) 7 Screen *

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 ...

(Omniplex Digital) 8 Screen

Northern Ireland

* Antrim (Omniplex Digital & Omnimaxx) 10 Screen * Armagh (Omniplex Digital) 4 Screen * Ballymena (IMC) 7 Screen * Bangor (Omniplex) 7 Screen *

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, Kennedy Centre (Omniplex Digital) 8 Screen *

Carrickfergus Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,998 at the 2011 Census. It is County Antrim's oldest ...

(Omniplex) 6 Screen * Derry (Omniplex) 7 Screen * Dundonald (Omniplex Digital) 8 Screen *

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,823 a ...

(Omniplex) 7 Screen *

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight roll-on roll-off port. Larne is administered by Mid ...

(Omniplex Digital) 8 Screen * Lisburn (Omniplex) 14 Screen *

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Armagh, Armagh and County Down, Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry ...

(Omniplex) 9 Screen

References

{{Reflist Former cinema chains in the Republic of Ireland