The GSD was previously housed in the Docklands area - not too far from Pallas's old haunts. They arrived there more than 25 years ago when it was still an urban wasteland.

Now, however, the studio has been forced to leave. Due to redevelopment of the Docklands, they had to sell the lease on the building in which they were based.

According to studio manager Mory Cunningham, they were hoping to work with the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) to find a new, affordable space in the area. However, it was a relationship that never bore fruit.

"The [DDDA 2003] Master Plan points to developing local, indigenous business and arts organisations, and we ticked all the boxes in that respect, so we went to talk to them about collaboration and how we could secure our future in the area, because obviously once the area is rejuvenated we're talking about top commercial rates. But we just couldn't get any sort of commitment from them."

DDDA arts manager Mary McCarthy says: "I was hired a year ago and we are now developing an arts and cultural strategy to accommodate culture in the longer term across Docklands. But at the point when the GSD were negotiating with us, we didn't own any spaces and weren't in a position to leverage any kind of permanent spaces.

That is something that the authority is conscious of moving forward. . . Their timelines and ours just weren't able to coincide, unfortunately."

The GSD has now found a space independently of the DDDA, using the money they made from selling their lease to buy a building outright - an impressive fourstorey former distillery on the North Circular Road. It will become a permanent home for the studio, giving them scope to develop their facilities and plan for the future.

"That's the upside to the story, " says Cunningham. "On the one side, it's a shame for the Docklands to lose one of the oldest arts organisations in the country. But on the other side, we bought this fantastic old Victorian building, it's centrally located and it's really going to allow us to expand."