The Abbey Theatre represents a major chunk of Arts Council funding in the Irish theatre world. “Women are poorly represented in the majority of key roles in the top-funded theatre organisations in Ireland,” reads the report. “The study finds that organisations higher up the funding scale show lower levels of female representation in most roles when compared to those in receipt of lower amounts of Arts Council funding. “The organisations that showed highest levels of female representation are the Ark, Rough Magic Theatre Company and Dublin Fringe Festival. “These companies are in receipt of lower amounts of public funding compared with the Gate and the Abbey Theatres, but show high levels of female representation.