ARTS COUNCIL/Olive Braiden: The new chairwoman of the Arts Council, has a range of experience in the voluntary and community sectors for over 20 years, and what she describes as a broad interest in the arts.
She has an impressive range of administrative experience and has worked and liaised with a number of Government Departments, agencies and voluntary organisations.The Minister, Mr O'Donoghue, in appointing her, singled out her skills, experience and commitment, saying she was a formidable woman.
Ms Braiden is a member of the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland, the Courts Services, the Judicial Advisory Board and is chairwoman of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency. She has served on many Government working parties and steering committees and chairs the performance verification group on benchmarking for the Department of Justice. In 2000 she was appointed a Human Rights Commissioner
She is currently completing an M.Phil in Gender Studies in Trinity College Dublin and her thesis is on candidate selection in Fianna Fáil. At the announcement of her appointment yesterday, Ms Braiden said she was "absolutely suprised" to be asked. She has always been interested in the arts, she said, but doesn't have a particular agenda or cover any particular constituency, which was one of the reasons she feels she was appointed. She is seen as a highly capable choice to chair a council of people who work in different areas of the arts.
She said she felt privileged to work with the significant artistic talents on the council and that it included "some real icons" in that world. She was also privileged to work with the talented people on the staff of the council, she said.
Ms Braiden lives in Cabra and comes from Co Sligo. She lives near Draoicht in Blanchardstown and the Helix in Glasnevin, both of which she is enthusiastic about. She also spends time in Ballyvaughan, Co Clare, and is interested in traditional music.
She is particularly interested in the arts in education and community arts, and goes to the Cat Laughs comedy festival in Kilkenny.
She first came to prominence when she was director of the Rape Crisis Centre for 10 years and she has been involved in campaigns for legislative reforms of women's rights, rape and child sexual abuse.
She commissioned research on the law of rape in the EU and commissioned the SAVI report, the first national research on child sexual abuse.
Noelle Campbell Sharpe
The former owner and publisher of Irish Tatler Publications, in her previous publishing incarnation she was involved with Social and Personal, Irish Tatler and Success magazines.
In the 1990s she founded the Cill Rialaig Artist Retreat in Ballinskelligs, Co Kerry, of which she is director.
She is also owner and director of Origin Gallery in Dublin.
Philip King
The film producer/director, music producer, musician, songwriter and radio broadcaster received an Emmy for the 1991 TV programme Bringing it all Back Home and a Grammy nomination in 1993. He produced the series Other Voices - Songs From a Room for RTÉ, a TV special on Nigel Kennedy and the Irish Chamber Orchestra and a documentary on Kennedy shot on the Dingle peninsula. He presents The South Wind Blows on RTÉ Radio 1 every Saturday night.
Úna Ó Múrchú
From Kilmaley, Co Clare, she is artistic director of the Brú Ború cultural centre in Cashel, Co Tipperary, and producer of the Brú Ború performing group.
She is on secondment from the Department of Education as executive producer of Careervision? career education videos for post primary schools.
Ms Ó Múrchú is a member of the outgoing Arts Council.
Willie Doherty
The Derry-born visual artist who has a worldwide reputation, represented Ireland at the 1993 Venice Biennial and won the 1995 Irish Museum of Modern Art/Glen Dimplex Artists Award.
A major mid-career retrospective of his work selected from the past 25 years was shown at the Irish Museum of Modern Art and De Appel this year and he was nominated for the 2003 Turner Prize. He is a member of Aosdána.
Rosaleen Linehan
After many years in comedy, Ms Linehan has had an outstanding career as a straight actor, in roles from Rose in Gypsy to Feste in Twelfth Night. Her solo show Mother of all the Behans was internationally acclaimed and she performed in London and Broadway in Brian Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa, earning Tony and Drama Desk nominations. Her performance in Beckett's Happy Days was described by Time magazine as one of the 10 great events of the American theatre.
Mary Nunan
The artist, choreographer and performer is course director of the MA in Contemporary Dance Performance at the University of Limerick. She has been artistic director of the well-regarded Daghdha Dance Company, which she founded in 1988. Her work has been performed throughout Ireland and at international dance festivals in Berlin, Munich, Paris, Barcelona, London and Mexico City.
Theo Dorgan
The Cork-born poet, editor, broadcaster and administrator has been co-director of Cork Film Festival and director of Poetry Ireland.
He has published a number of pamphlets and three books of poetry and has served on the Boards of Triskel Arts Centre, Irish Writers Centre, Project Arts Centre, Ireland Literature Exchange and the African Cultural Projects. He is a member of Aosdána.
Orlaith McBride
Recently appointed director of the National Association for Youth Drama, she was previously Youth Arts Officer in the National Youth Council of Ireland, co-ordinating the National Youth Arts Programme. She has worked in local authorities, community arts, youth theatre and drama-in-education. She holds post-graduate qualifications in arts administration and drama-in-education.
Emer O'Kelly
The Sunday Independent theatre critic's journalistic career has included commentary, criticism, and current affairs. She was a newscaster with RTÉ for 18 years until 1998. She also writes commentary and literary reviews for the Sunday Independent. A board member of Irish Museum of Modern Art, and the newly formed Ireland-Romania Cultural Foundation, she is a member of the outgoing Arts Council.
Jerome Hynes
A native of Galway, he was administrator and general manager of Druid Theatre Company in the 1980s; he is still on the board. Since 1988 he has been managing director, then chief executive of Wexford Festival Opera. He is a board member of the Dunamaise Centre for the Arts, West Cork Chamber Festival, Business 2 Arts and the National Concert Hall and has been on the executive of the International Festivals Association.
John McGahern
The Leitrim-based novelist is one of Ireland's most gifted and outstanding writers, with a reputation here and abroad. His novels include The Barracks, The Dark (which was banned in the 1960s), The Leavetaking, The Pornographer, Amongst Women and That They May Face The Rising Sun. He has received many awards, including The Irish Times/Aer Lingus Literary Award (1990). He is a member of Aosdána.
Patrick Sutton
The director of the Gaiety School of Acting teaches improvisation at the school and is a former artistic director of Wexford Arts Centre and TEAM Theatre Company. He is also director of Communicate, a communications company working in industry, politics and the arts, and is a board member of IMMA. As a writer (Tony Barrow) his work has been performed in Ireland and the US. He is an outgoing member of the Arts Council .
