Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Minister Deenihan thanked Professor Ó Súilleabháin for what he described as his outstanding dedication and contribution to promoting Irish arts abroad: "Micheál has been at the heart of Culture Ireland since its inception in 2005. He helped to bring about major programmes such as Imagine Ireland, a year of Irish Arts in America in 2011 and Culture Connects, the culture programme which celebrated Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2013."

Congratulating Ms McCarthy on her appointment, Minister Deenihan said:  "Mary brings a wealth of experience in international arts promotion which will help ensure the maximum impact in presenting Ireland's world class artistic imagination across the world."

Mary McCarthy
Ms. Mary  McCarthy is Director of the National Sculpture Factory in Cork, Ireland. Previously, Mary held the roles of Executive Arts Manager for Dublin Docklands Development Authority, Deputy Director and Programme Director at Cork 2005: European Capital of Culture.   Mary currently sits on the Boards of The Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) and the Cork Film Festival.

She has also previously acted as an expert panel member for the selection of European Capitals of Culture for the European Commission and has acted as an advisor to bidding Capital of Culture cities. Mary also regularly inputs and moderates at various international seminars and programmes.

John Given
John Given is a founding shareholder and director of Brandon Point Industries Limited, a newly established Dublin and New Haven, Connecticut based life sciences company. John previously served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Elan Corporation, plc, Ireland's largest biotech company and, prior to that, as a senior partner with A&L Goodbody.

During his over 2 decades as a corporate lawyer, John's clients included many Irish and international private and public sector enterprises active across the broad spectrum of intellectual property and related rights in the media, film, literary, telecoms, IT and healthcare industries.

John is also Chairman of A&L Goodbody's China Programme, a cultural exchange initiative involving over 20 Chinese law firms, state owned enterprises and universities, which was described by the Taoiseach at its 2012 launch in Beijing as 'brilliant and pioneering'.

Josephine Kelliher
Josephine Kelliher is the owner and director of Rubicon Gallery. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Management and a post graduate diploma in the History of European Painting from Trinity College. Her involvement with visual artists began in 1990 and she has worked both nationally and internationally, to promote contemporary artists and Irish visual art practice.

In addition to her role in Rubicon Gallery, she has worked as Visual Arts Curator at Kilkenny Arts Festival since 2011, she talks and lectures on professional practice and sits on the the Board of Ballinglen Arts Foundation.