Board members
A voluntary body of 12 members and a chair, the Arts Council Board oversees the strategic direction of our work.
The board is appointed by the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Members sit on the board for a term of five years.
Maura McGrath
Chair of the Arts Council Board
Date of appointment: 12 June 2024
Maura McGrath has been a member of the National Concert Hall (NCH) board since 2014 and Chair since 2016, during which time she led on the transfer of the National Symphony Orchestra and Choirs to the NCH from RTÉ, the successful response of the NCH to the challenges posed by the Covid pandemic, and the development of exciting plans, approved by Government, for the redevelopment and renewal of the National Concert Hall at Earlsfort Terrace.
Maura holds a Master’s Degree in Management and Organisational Behaviour from Trinity College Dublin. She is a member of the Institute of Directors in Ireland, is accredited in Corporate Governance, and is a faculty member of the Irish Management Institute. As a highly experienced HR consultant, change facilitator, coach and chair her work has spanned the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. As an advisor she has successfully delivered strategic and organisational transformation to a wide range of organisations. Maura has held previous prestigious board roles across all sectors in Ireland including the Public Appointments Service and the UMPC Clinic Waterford.
Philomena Poole
Deputy Chair of the Arts Council Board
Date of appointment: 8 March 2022
Philomena Poole is the former Chief Executive of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council (retired in May 2021). She was previously County Manager in Louth County Council and served in South Dublin County Council for many years.
In each of these roles she was responsible for the economic, social, cultural and environmental development of the county, leading large teams to deliver on significant infrastructure and social programmes as well as driving organisation transformation. During her time in DLR County Council, Philomena had full oversight of ambitious arts and library development projects and successfully established the Music Generation programme there.
She has worked on leadership programmes and philanthropy initiatives with Co-Operation Ireland and holds a Master’s degree in Executive Coaching.
Noyona Chundur
Date of appointment: 29 October 2024.
Noyona Chundur is Chief Executive of the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland, having previously served as a Board Member and Audit and Risk Assurance Committee Chair. She delivers Northern Ireland’s regulatory environment for consumer protection, with super-complaints designation and statutory responsibilities in energy, transport, water and sewerage, postal services and food accessibility, and a brief for financial inclusion and EU Exit matters.
Noyona is also non-executive Director for the Progressive Building Society and a Council Member for the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry. She is a Chartered Director through the Institute of Directors and won Public Sector Director of the Year at the 2023 Institute of Director Awards.
Noyona is the former Chair of one of Northern Ireland’s leading arts festivals, the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival, a catalyst for growing its cultural landscape and the regeneration of Belfast’s cultural centre, the Cathedral Quarter, through investment in the arts and tourism.
Prior to joining the Consumer Council as Chief Executive in January 2021, she spent 16 years in economic development and has won multiple internationally recognised awards for marketing and digital innovation.
Andrew Clancy
Date of appointment: 8 March 2022
Andrew Clancy is an architect and an educator. Graduating from UCD in 2001, he established Clancy Moore Architects with Colm Moore in 2008. He completed his PhD by practice with RMIT in 2017.
Having previously worked in Queens University Belfast and as Visiting Professor to the Aarhus School of Architecture, he was appointed as full professor of architecture to the Kingston School of Art in 2016.
His research concerns the methods of critical practice today, and embraces the work he does and the research and pedagogic innovations he leads in academia. With a view to advancing a conversational method which embraces the full plurality of subjective, contingent and imposed limits that operate in practice, his work has led to Clancy Moore Architects being voted winner of the Young Architect of the Year in 2018, the Peter Davey Award in 2019 and receiving an AAI Downes medal.
He sees his role with the Arts Council as a means to support the full richness both of architectural practice, and in the other arts.
Aoife Granville
Date of appointment: 8 March 2022
Aoife Granville is from Dingle, Kerry, and is a performer, educator and researcher who holds a PhD in Folklore/Ethnomusicology (Dingle Wren & European Carnival Cultures). She lectures in Traditional & Popular Music, Folklore & Festival and currently holds the post of Lecturer in Folklore/Béaloideas at the Folklore Department, UCC. Previously, she lectured at the Department of Music (UCC), the International Centre for Music Studies at Newcastle University (UK) and with visiting US universities to Ireland.
Aoife is regarded as an influential figure in the contemporary Irish fluting tradition and is currently working on her third solo album.
A regular contributor to radio and television, Aoife works and publishes in both Irish and English. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of Achill International Harp Festival and is part of Culture Ireland’s ‘Expert Panel’ and the Arts Council of Ireland peer review panels. She was the Director of Ionad Cultúrtha Arts Centre in Gaeltacht Mhúscraí from January 2019 to December 2021 and previously sat on a variety of boards and committees pertaining to Arts Centres for Dingle as well as the External Advisory Board to the Vice-President and later President of UCC, 2018-2021.
Aoife has also been involved in festival management as well as arts advocacy and mentorship for many years.
Gary Granville
Date of appointment: 17 May 2024
Dr. Gary Granville is Emeritus Professor of Education and former Interim Director of the National College of Art and Design (NCAD), Dublin. He was previously Assistant Chief Executive of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) in Ireland. In that capacity, he oversaw the design and introduction of national programmes, including the Leaving Certificate Applied, the Junior Cycle Schools Programme and initiatives in citizenship education, in enterprise education and in the arts.
In recent years he has chaired the NCCA Development Group for Art at junior cycle and Leaving Certificate. Gary Granville has extensive experience as a member of policy advisory groups including Creative Ireland, Higher Education Authority, Teaching Council, NCCA and other national and international bodies. His publications include books, articles and commissioned reports on arts education, curriculum and assessment policy, labour history and global citizenship. Is cainteoir dúchais Ghaeilge é agus oibríonn se tré mheán na Gaeilge mar is cuí.
Brian Lavery
Date of appointment: 8 March 2022
Brian Lavery is a manager at Google, where he manages European e-commerce partnerships. He was previously European managing director of AccuWeather, the world’s largest weather forecasting and media company, after holding commercial management, marketing, and consulting roles at Twitter, Vodafone, and McKinsey & Co.
Earlier in his career, Brian served as the Ireland reporter for the New York Times, covering the arts as well as current affairs, politics, business, and Northern Ireland. He was also an independent arts critic covering theatre and dance for Irish media including the Irish Independent and RTÉ.
Brian recently served as chair of The Ark, Ireland’s cultural centre for children, during a 9-year period on the board. As chair, he led a comprehensive governance improvement program, and helped to craft and adapt the organisation’s strategy before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also served on the board of BirdWatch Ireland, including a term as treasurer. He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, a Professional Certificate in Corporate Governance from the Institute of Public Administration, and a BA in English Literature from Yale University, where he wrote his thesis on the role of newspapers and media in Ulysses.
Dr. Rosaleen McDonagh
Date of appointment: 29 October 2024
Rosaleen McDonagh is a Traveller woman with a disability originally from Sligo. She previously worked in Pavee Point Traveller & Roma Centre managing the Violence Against Women programme, and remains a board member. Rosaleen has a BA in Biblical & Theological Studies, an MPhil in Ethnic & Racial Studies and an MPhil in Creative Writing, all from Trinity College Dublin, and a PhD from Northumbria University. She is a regular contributor to the Irish Times, writing primarily within the framework of a Traveller feminist perspective. Rosaleen’s work includes Mainstream, The Baby Doll Project, Stuck, She’s Not Mine, Walls and Windows, Rings and Contentious Spaces. Rosaleen was appointed to The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission in May 2020, where she is the chair of the Disability Advisory Committee.
In 2018, Fishamble produced Rosaleen’s play Running Out of Road in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, to mark the first anniversary of Traveller Ethnicity recognition. Rosaleen was writer in residence with Tuti Theatre Company in Adelaide, Australia in 2019.
Rosaleen is currently under Commission from the Abbey Theatre, she is writing an adaptation of Ibsen’s Dolls House. Rosaleen is also working on two books for Skein Press. The first, a collection of short stories entitled “Contentious Spaces”. Her third book “Bearings a Letter to Amy & Rosie Bridget”, is a letter to a young Traveller woman and a letter to a young Disabled woman.
Brian Ó Gáibhín
Date of appointment: 17 May 2024
Brian Ó Gáibhín is from Cluain Dolcáin, Dublin, and currently is Príomhoifigeach Oibríochtaí / Chief Operations Officer of Áras Chrónáin Ionad Cultúir in Dublin where he manages and oversees the development and implementation of an extensive, diverse and inclusive Arts, Cultural and Performance programme in partnership with local and national stakeholders.
Brian holds a BA in Education and a Master’s degree in Business and Information Technology (DCU). Early is his career, Brian was a primary school teacher in a Gaelscoil, a presenter on TG4 and Head of the Music Department at the International School of Chouiefat in the U.A.E. He also travelled the world extensively as Tour Manager for International Artists.
Brian has been an active member / chairperson on numerous boards and committees. Brian was Chairperson of South Dublin County Tourism 2004-2015 and central to bringing Oireachtas na Cruinne (Irish World Dance) 2017 and Oireachtas na Samhna 2019 to South Dublin County. Brian led Áras Chrónáin to All-Ireland IPB Place Awards for ‘Creative Place Initiative’ 2018. Brian developed and led the achieving of the official status of ‘Líonra Gaeilge – Irish Language Network’ in 2020 for Sráidbhaile Chluain Dolcáin, the first in the history of the state. Brian currently sits on the Board of Directors of South Dublin Chamber of Commerce and An tOireachtas, and is Chairperson of Comhchoiste Náisiúnta na Líonra Gaeilge – Irish Language Network.
Caroline Ann O’Sullivan
Date of appointment: 2 December 2024
Caroline Ann O’Sullivan is a senior lecturer and Head of the School of Media in Technological University Dublin where she has worked since 2017.
She was previously co-director of the Centre for Creative Arts Research and Senior Lecturer in Creative Media in Dundalk Institute of Technology where she lectured from 2000-2017. A cultural sociologist, Caroline has lectured across the disciplines of Media and Film Studies, Digital Media Culture, Popular Music and intersectional issues in Creative Media Industries.
Caroline holds a PhD in Sociology from Trinity College Dublin, an MSc in Multimedia from DCU and a BA in Sociology and Information Science from UCD. She has published and presented worldwide on intersectional issues in the arts and media, gender and class in the music and screen industries; media literacy, popular culture, identity and expression online and the night time economy.
Caroline has extensive experience in committee membership and oversight. She was previously a member of the management committee of Honeycomb – Creative Works, a €5,000,000 INTEREG IV project funded by SUEPB promoting the Creative Industries across the border counties of the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and West of Scotland. She is currently a member of the steering committee of the European wide Live Music Mapping project and is the branch chair of the UK and Ireland branch of the International Association of the study of Popular Music.
Gaby Smyth
Date of appointment: 17 May 2024
Gaby Smyth studied at UCD (B. Sc Hons, HDE), University of Limerick (M.A), Leinster School of Music (LLSM), and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, also qualifying as a Certified Mediator (CEDR, London). He has been in financial and taxation consultancy for over thirty years, specialising in the literary, music, film, theatre and visual arts – representing and advising many of the major Irish and international practitioners in these areas.
Gaby has also been involved in the leadership and governance of many arts organisations in Ireland; he has been the chairman of the boards of Temple Bar Gallery & Studios, Corn Exchange Theatre Company, and TEAM Educational Theatre Company. He was also chairman of the boards of the Dublin International Film Festival and Opera Theatre Company; and was inaugural chairman of Irish National Opera. Additionally, he was non-executive chairman of Boulder Media Ltd., a major Irish animation company, and the first independent chair of Screen Producers Ireland, the umbrella organisation for the film, animation and TV industry in the state. Furthermore, he has chaired the board of Amnesty International Ireland between 2001–2005, and again from 2010 to 2014. He was also chair of the International Chairs’ Forum for Amnesty International.
Jillian van Turnhout
Date of appointment: 29 October 2024
Jillian van Turnhout serves on the Arts Council, where she chairs the Policy and Strategy Committee, having first been appointed in 2019 and subsequently reappointed. She brings extensive leadership experience across business, public affairs and voluntary sectors in Ireland and the EU.
A Chartered Director (CDir) with INSEAD International Directors Programme certification (IDP-C), she currently chairs the Private Securities Authority, Nursing Homes Ireland, the Department of Health Online Health Taskforce, and the DCEDIY Care Experience Programme Stakeholder Advisory Group, while serving as Director and Company Secretary of Irish Girl Guides. Her previous roles include independent Senator, Vice President of the European Economic and Social Committee, Chief Executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance, and co-founder of the European Youth Forum.
She has been awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite by the President of France and an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. She is also an accredited Genealogist.
Richard Yarr
Date of appointment: 17 May 2024
Richard Yarr is one of Northern Ireland’s best-known Arts professionals: an award-winning Music and Arts producer with the BBC; a recognised innovator in the sector; and the recipient of a National Honour – an MBE for Services to Music. He is also a Deputy Lieutenant of the County Borough of Belfast.
Richard has substantial experience of leading local government committees and charities. He is Chairperson of the Charles Wood Festival of Music & Summer School; Artistic Director of the Northern Ireland International Organ Competition, which he founded in 2011; a Music Advisor for CCEA (The Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment, NI) and Director of Music in Belfast’s oldest place of worship. He is also Music Fellow at Lichfield Cathedral School in Staffordshire and Patron of both the Northern Ireland Young Musician of the Year Competition and the Lagan Festival of Speech, Drama, Music & Art.
Richard co-ordinated the BBC’s national coverage of Derry~Londonderry UK City of Culture in 2013 and, as a strong advocate of Arts partnerships, created BBC Northern Ireland’s School Choir of the Year Competition in 2015 – a partnership between the BBC, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the National Youth Choir of Northern Ireland. Richard is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Freeman of the City of London.