merrion street

The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys, has today (Friday) announced the appointment of a new board to the National Museum of Ireland (NMI). The appointees have been vetted by the Public Appointments Service and were found to have the requisite experience to serve on the Board.

The Minister has nominated Catherine Heaney as Chair designate. Her formal appointment will be made after her appearance before the relevant Oireachtas Committee.

The board members are:
· John Bowen
· Mary Crotty
· Catherine Heaney (Chair designate)
· Ambrose Loughlin
· Judith McCarthy
· Denise Moroney
· Declan Nelson
· Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh
· Andrew Power
· Lynn Scarff
· Virginia Teehan
· Aidan Walsh

The following board members being appointed by the Minister are nominees of the Royal Dublin Society (RDS), the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) and a staff representative from the NMI:
· Ingrid Hook (RDS)
· Kathleen James-Chakraborty (RIA)
· Mary O’Dowd (RIA)
· Karen Wilson (NMI)

Details on board members:

John Bowen: Former Chairman of the Crawford Gallery
Chairman and CEO of the Bowen Group (1998-2011)

Mary Crotty: Managing Director of Mary Crotty PR (1983-date)
Board member of NMI 2011-2016

Catherine Heaney: Founder and MD of DHR Communications
Former board member of Heritage Council and Chair of its Audit Committee

Ambrose Loughlin: Chair of the Audit Committee of the Department of Finance
Partner McCann Fitzgerald Solicitors (1989-date)

Judith McCarthy: Museum Curator, Donegal County Museum
Member of Donegal Tourism Sectoral Forum

Denise Moroney: Managing Director Brand Dynamics (1994-date)
Head of Marketing Irish Times (2015)

Declan Nelson: Board member, Pobal
Former County Manager, Monaghan and former Assistant County Manager, Galway

Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh: Associate Professor of History, NUIG (1989-2010)
Board member, National Museum of Ireland (2011-2016)

Andrew Power: Head of Registry, IADT (2015-date)
Board Member, Classification of Films Appeals Board

Lynn Scarff: Director, Science Gallery TCD
Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering, Maths and Science

Virginia Teehan: Former Director Hunt Museum Limerick (2003-2009)
Director of Heritage and Visual Arts, UCC

Aidan Walsh: Former Director of the Northern Ireland Museums Council (1993-2001)
Former Board member of the International Committee for Museums Management

Ingrid Hook (RDS): Head of the School of Pharmacy, TCD

Kathleen James-Chakraborty (RIA): Professor of Art History, School of Art History and Cultural Policy, UCD

Mary O’Dowd (RIA): Professor of Gender History and member of the Irish Manuscripts Commission

Karen Wilson (NMI): staff representative, National Museum of Ireland