“It is easy, when meeting Seán Doran, to grasp why English National Opera sees him as its potential saviour. He only has to open his mouth and you feel he has the gift of the blarney. When you listen to him expounding, in a lilting Irish accent, his visions for the future of opera, the least you can do is nod and agree. That’s exactly what the embattled ENO board did last year when it appointed Doran as artistic director and chief executive. The question now is whether he can turn vision into reality.” Lately, the ENO has been forced to accept one delay after another in the reopening of its home at the London Coliseum, but Doran remains upbeat about the future.