Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan has announced the appointment of Dr Éimear O’Connor, Mr Mark O’Regan and Mr Ciarán Walsh to the Board of the Arts Council. The three will join the board of twelve members which includes write Colm Tóibín and former director of the National Concert Hall Judith Woodworth.
Dr Éimear O’Connor’s background is in art history, for which she received her PhD from UCD, specialising in Irish art. O’Connor has lectured on Irish visual culture in Ireland and America, edited books, articles and reviews on Irish art and is a professional artist who has shown work in Ireland, America and Denmark.
Dr Mark O’Regan is a professional actor who has a long association with the Abbey and Gate theatres in productions such as ‘Juno and the Paycock’, ‘Sweeney Todd’, ‘All My Sons’ and ‘The Plough and the Stars’. O’Regan has also worked internationally and in TV and film including ‘The Commitments’, ‘Black Day at Black Rock’ and ‘The Last of the High Kings’.
Ciarán Walsh is former General Manager of the Dublin Theatre Festival and Managing Director of the Druid Theatre Company. From 2005-2010, he was Director of Long Road Productions and currently works with the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, curating and managing the cultural programme of Presidential visits abroad.
Minister Deenihan said “I am delighted to have obtained the agreement of these three appointees to the Board as their collective expertise will bring valuable and diverse talents to the work of the Council. I am confident that they collectively will add to the range of existing expertise and skill sets present on the Board so as to ensure its continued development into the future.”
The Minister also welcomed the newly appointed Arts Council Director, Orlaith McBride who commenced her role earlier this month.
The Irish Arts Council is Ireland’s government agency for developing the arts. It provides various funding mechanisms for filmmakers including the Frameworks short film scheme (with the IFB and RTÉ) and the Film Project Award as well as supporting festivals and film councils. It recently launched the seventh season of Splanc!, a television documentary scheme that supports the creative exploration of Arts in Ireland.
