During his time there, he worked on such projects as the Festival Theatre in Adelaide, Seymore Centre in Sydney, and the Victorian Arts Center. He also opened Strand first branch office, in South Yarra, Victoria. In 1979, he founded Entertech, a theatre consultancy, working on many buildings, including theatres, casinos, and performing arts centres.
Among his projects were The Araluen Center in Alice Springs, and regional theatres in Renmark, Port Pirie, Mount Gambier, and Whyalla. He was also passionately interested in theatre restoration; the Theatre Royal in Hobart, Her Majesty's Theatre in Ballarat, the Empire Theatre in Toowoomba, and the Capitol in Sydney all benefited from his expertise. In 2006 Entertech merged with Marshall Day Acoustics to form Marshall Day Entertech.
Irving was well-known on the internationally, visiting Europe and the U.K. regularly to maintain contact with current trends. He was for several years national president of the IES and ANCI (now CIE Australia) culminating in the winning of the CIE's Quadriennial Session in Melbourne in 1991.
Richard Pilbrow, the noted theatre consultant and lighting designer, described Irving as "a passionate, cantankerous, deeply committed man devoted to stage lighting and the improvement of theatre in Australia. Lighting today in Australia has become a part of the theatre industry that is respected around the world for its top quality equipment, designers and technical expertise. Denis almost single-handedly pioneered the way."Irving is survived by his wife Judie and his children.
(David Barbour)
