Baroness O’Cathain, businesswoman criticised for her authoritarian style at the Barbican – obituary
She improved the arts centre’s finances but lost the confidence of colleagues. Later on, in the Lords, she defended the traditional family
28 April 2021 • 11:52am
Detta O'Cathain (1993): her apparent contempt for the ‘whinges’ of people she referred to as ‘arty-farty types’ was bound to raise hackles
Credit: UPPA/Photoshot
Baroness O'Cathain, who has died aged 83, was a forthright businesswoman who endured a torrid time as managing director of the Barbican arts and conference centre from January 1990 to March 1995.
When in the early 1960s the City of London made a “gift to the nation” of the £150 million arts complex, it was assumed that the Barbican would pay for itself, with the rent from exhibitions and conferences covering the costs of the concert hall, cinema, two theatres and art gallery. By 1990, however, the centre was costing the Corporation £21.4 million a year – 27 per cent of its income from rates.