SOME OF US became a little worried about Mr Screen’s absence from his usual spot on Hawkins Street on the Southside of Dublin at the start of the month.

The city’s best known (but least effective) cinema usher had gone missing from his usual stomping ground outside the Screen cinema in advance of that institution’s closure.

Had he been retired along with the picturehouse, we wondered.

Was he being shipped off to a multiplex in the suburbs?

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IMC Cinemas, which ran the screen, declined to comment on the mini-mystery when we called to ask them about it.

Dublin City Council did get back, however – telling us the landmark sculpture had simply been taken away by the cinema chain while works were being carried out, and would be back on duty soon elsewhere in the city.

“It is hoped to relocate the sculpture to another appropriate location outside a city centre cinema where he can continue to be enjoyed by the public at large,” a spokesperson said.

Back on duty

At the weekend his familiar (if slightly gormless) face finally re-emerged, however – not outside a cinema, but tucked away inside the lobby.

The much-loved sculpture has been given a new home at another IMC venue – the Savoy, on O’Connell Street.

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We’re not sure whether it’s set to be a permanent or a temporary location for the Vincent Browne-designed* artwork. But either way, Mr Screen seemed his usual, stoic self as the cinema opened for business earlier.

Here he is, directing cinema-goers to early afternoon screenings of London has Fallen…

*Not that Vincent Browne, this one.