In October 2022, the Gate Cinema was bought out by Arc Cinemas. Arc itself has locations in Drogheda, Navan, and Wexford, along with various other U.K. locations. 

Recently Arc Cinema announced to its staff and managers that they would be changing the names of the three Gate Cinema locations, to rename them under their current brand. This announcement was a shock to the Gate Cinema staff, who were originally told that there would not be any name change. 

Not only would this name change be a shocking waste of resources, in terms of rebranding buildings, offices and uniforms, but it would also be an erasure of Cork history. 

The Gate Cinema was given its name based on its initial Cork City location. Over 700 years ago, there was a gate to the city in the same location. The gate itself was the primary entrance to Cork City, it was built in the thirteenth century, demolished in the eighteenth century and was located nearby to where the South Gate Bridge in the city centre currently stands. The secondary gate was the North Gate Bridge, located next to the cinema itself.

To change the name of the Gate Cinema would be to ignore this piece of Cork history. Arc Cinema should respect that their acquirement of the Gate Cinema comes with recognising this piece of Cork history. 

Please sign and share this petition to show Arc Cinemas that Cork people are proud of its history, and do not want the Gate Cinema name to change.