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Government appoints new Secretary General of Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs
The Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Heather Humphreys TD, has today (Wednesday) announced that the Government has appointed Katherine Licken as Secretary General of the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. The appointment will be effective from Friday January 20th 2017.
Ms Licken is currently Assistant Secretary in the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, where she has responsibility for telecommunications market interventions, including the National Broadband Plan, EU and national telecommunications and internet policy, cyber security, the National Digital Strategy and the Emergency Call Answering Service.
Katherine also spent seven years in the energy area, working in renewable heat and transport fuels, as well as having corporate governance responsibility for a number of State energy companies and responsibility for security of supply. Katherine is a graduate of Dublin City University and is currently completing a post-graduate diploma in corporate governance at the UCD Smurfit School.
Speaking today Minister Humphreys said:
“My Department has a wide and varied remit from the promotion of arts, heritage and culture, supporting the Irish language and Gaeltacht communities, to the revitalisation of rural Ireland. These priorities will be primarily driven in the years ahead through Creative Ireland, the Government’s 5 year initiative to place culture and creativity at the heart of public life, and the Action Plan for Rural Development, which will be published next week.
“I am fortunate to have a very committed team of officials working with me in the Department and I am delighted that the Government has appointed Katherine Licken to lead this team at this very important time. Katherine has excellent experience across a wide range of policy areas and has the requisite skills to drive implementation of key agenda items right across the Department. I would also like to pay tribute to our outgoing Secretary General Joe Hamill. Joe has been an invaluable source of support and advice to me since I became Minister, and I would like to wish him the very best in his retirement.
“I would like to wish Katherine the very best in filling her new role.”