The Irish Film Institute (IFI) has announced the appointment of Katherine McSharry and Mary-Elaine Tynan to the IFI Board. These appointments follow the IFI Annual General Meeting.
Director for Cultural Heritage in University College Dublin Library, Katherine McSharry oversees the National Folklore Collection, UCD Special Collections, and UCD Archives. A cultural heritage specialist, she was a member of the executive team at the National Library of Ireland for over a decade. She was the lead on the National Library’s partnership with University College Dublin to create the Museum of Literature Ireland, and project director for the public-private partnership with the Bank of Ireland to create the award-winning exhibition Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again at the Bank of Ireland Cultural and Heritage Centre.
“It is an honour to join the Board of the Irish Film Institute, a vital national institution which contributes so significantly to the cultural life of Ireland,” said Katherine McSharry. “As a Board member, I look forward to contributing my experience in preserving and sharing cultural heritage, and supporting the exceptional work of the IFI.”
Mary-Elaine Tynan is Education Officer at the NCCA, a teacher, author and award-winning radio documentarian. Her documentaries include The Rough with the Smoothie, Small Lives and Great Reputations, Finding Private Branch and The Undetectables. I'll Send You Butterflies won numerous awards in 2022 including Silver at the IMRO Awards, the Prix Europa award, and the Prix Italia Competition. After making a radio documentary about Paddy Armstrong, in 2017 she co-authored the critically acclaimed Life After Life - A Guildford Four Memoir with Armstrong. She has also co-authored the leading Junior Cycle English textbooks Fire and Ice.
“As an educator, documentary maker and very frequent visitor to the IFI, I am honoured and excited to have been elected to the Board,” said Tynan. “The IFI’s remit to exhibit, preserve and educate, and commitment to bringing a broad and deep experience cinema to all generations are enormously important. I look forward to my role as a proud and active advocate of our national cultural institution and hope that I will be able to make a meaningful contribution to the work of the Board.”
Alongside the new appointments of Katherine McSharry and Mary-Elaine Tynan, four existing IFI Board members (Dr. Neasa Hardiman, Gerard McNaughton, Patrick O’Neill and Terence O’Rourke) were also re-elected for an additional term. They all join the remaining members of the IFI Board of Dr Zélie Asava, Michael Collins, Adrian Crawford, Torlach Denihan, Dr Susan Liddy, Claire McHugh, Rebecca O'Flanagan, Tadhg O’Sullivan and Juanita Wilson, all led by Chairperson John McGrane.
“We are delighted such high calibre Council Members as Katherine McSharry and Mary-Elaine Tynan are joining the IFI Board,” said Chair of the Board, McGrane. “Their many years of experience will be a huge asset to the IFI as we embark on our next five year strategy.”
IFI Director and CEO Ross Keane added: “Katherine McSharry and Mary Elaine Tynan will bring a wealth of expertise to the IFI Board, particularly from the worlds of preservation and education, which fit perfectly with these core areas of the IFI’s remit. The IFI Executive looks forward to working closely with them over the coming years.”
For more information on the IFI Board and Governance, see ifi.ie.
