Ireland Film & Television Net : News

Sile deValera announces Arts Council

Sile deValera, the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands has announced the appointment of the new Arts Council.

Chairing the seventeen member Board is Professor Brian Farrell who is Emeritus Professor of Politics in UCD. He is one of Ireland's leading broadcasters, having begun his career with Radio Eireann in the 1950's, and has presented every major current affairs programme on RTE. He is Vice-Chairman of the Institute of European Affairs, and has served as Director General from 1994 - 1996. He has previously served on the National Archives Advisory Council and the Commission on Irish Newspaper Industry. He has published extensively and is currently editing 'Issues in Education: Changing Education, Changing Society'.

Among the members are two re-appointments, Paul McGuinness and Proinsias Mac Aonghusa, both of whom have served on the Council since 1989. Paul McGuinness is managing director of Principle Management and manager of U2. He has been a board member of the City Arts Centre, the National Concert Hall and a Director of the Irish Film Centre. Proinsias MacAonghusa is an author and broadcaster and has been President of Conradh na Gaeilge and the Gaelic League and Chairman of Bord na Gaeilge. He also served on the Arts Council from 1982 to 1984.

A further fourteen members have been appointed:

Mary Brady is from Enniskillen, and now works as Artistic Director of the Firkin Crane Centre for Dance in Cork, where she was formerly the dance development officer. A dancer by training, she has worked extensively in the areas of dance theatre and dance education, both North and South.

Ciaran Carson is a Northern Ireland-based poet, and member of Aosdana, who has won a number of prestigious international prizes for his poetry. He has also gained acclaim as a noted essayist, with the production of 'Last Nights Fun' and 'The Star Factory'. He is a member of staff of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

Maud Cotter is a Cork-based sculptor and is founder member of the National Sculpture Factory. Working largely in stained glass, she has exhibited in Cork, Dublin, Cardiff, Rennes, London and Luxembourg. She has recently moved into installation work.

Noel Crowley is the Clare County Librarian. He is based in Ennis and has been active in the arts for many years. Previously he worked with Cork county and city libraries. He was instrumental in the development of the County Arts Officer structure, which went on to become such an important aspect of regional development in the arts.

Brendan Flynn is artistic director and a founder member of Clifden Community Arts Week, a multi-disciplinary arts festival, which began in 1977 and secretary of Clifden Arts Society. He has extensive teaching experience and served as vice-principal of Clifden Community School since 1974 and as acting principle between 1991 and 1996.

Jane Gogan is commissioning editor of TV3. She has worked in the film and television industry as an independent producer since the early eighties, producing a number of fiction films and documentaries. She is a founding member of Filmbase and Film Makers Ireland.

TV Honan was a founder member and first general manager of the Waterford-based Red Kettle Theatre Company. More recently he founded Waterford Spraoi of which he is Director. He is a member of the Cultural Relations Committee and a board member of Garter Lane Arts Centre.

Siobhan Ni Eanaigh is a partner in the Drogheda-based McGarry Ni Eanaigh Architects whose practice has been involved in both locally based and national developments including the preparation of the Temple Bar urban renewal framework plan. She has served as honorary secretary to RIAI Board of Architectural Education and as a member of Group 91 Architects.

Maire Ni Riain is from Limerick and has been active in amateur drama for many years. She has been national treasurer of the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland since 1981, and is secretary of the Munster Amateur Drama Council. She has a long involvement in Feile Luimnigh.

Seamus O Cinneide is chairman of Very Special Arts Ireland and a board member of the City Arts Centre. He is the Jean Monnet Professor of European Social Policy at the National University in Maynooth. He was the chairman of the Arts Council's Working Party on Arts and Disability and was a member of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities.

Emer O'Kelly has been an RTE broadcaster since 1982. She has been theatre critic with 'The Sunday Independent' since 1992 and was theatre critic with the Sunday Press in the 1970's. She has broadcast in and written on a number of different areas including literature and current affairs.

Jane O'Leary is a composer and member of Aosdana. She is the founder and programme director of Music for Galway and founder and director of Concord, the contemporary music ensemble. Previously, she was Chairperson of the Board of Contemporary Music Centre a member of the board of the National Concert Hall and a member of the Cultural Relations Committee.

Una O Murchu is the Clare-born artistic director of Bru Boru, the theatre and performing arts group based in Cashel, Co. Tipperary. She has had a long involvement in education and was recently involved in the initiation and implementation of a certificate course for performing skills in traditional music, song and dance.

Patrick Sutton is a theatre director and Director of the Gaiety School of Acting. He is a former artistic director of Wexford Arts Centre and TEAM educational theatre Company. He is also director of Communicate, a company working in industry, politics and the arts.

Patricia Quinn remains the Director of the Arts Council. The outgoing council, chaired by Professor Ciaran Benson, served from 1993 to 1998 and its members were Eavan Boland, Paraic Breathnach, Mary Elizabeth Burke-Kennedy, Jane Dillon Byrne, Eithne Healy, Proinsias Mac Aonghusa, Ciaran Mac Gonigal, Paul MacGuinness, Laura Magahy, Vic Merriman, Pat Murray, Aidan O' Carroll, Terry Prone, Vivienne Roche, Kathleen Watkins and John Wilson.

It is expected that many of the members of the new Arts Council will be among the delegates at the Council's second consultative forum for the arts which takes place at the University of Limerick on Friday, June 19th.

Arts Council grants for 1998