Four new appointments to the National Gallery of Ireland Board of Governors and Guardians

The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin, has announced (3 February) the following four new appointments to the Board of Governors and Guardians of the National Gallery of Ireland:

• Dr Michelle D Cullen
• Ms Margie McCarthy
• Dr Sandra Collins
• Mr Adrian O’Carroll

The four appointees will each serve a five-year term, following a public call for applications onwww.stateboards.ie and an assessment process.

Dr Michelle D Cullen is the Managing Director and board member of Accenture International and the company’s Head of Inclusion and Diversity. She is a strong advocate for diversity in leadership and co-founder of Accenture’s Women on Walls initiative with the Royal Irish Academy, RCSI and DCU, which seeks to make women leaders visible through a series of commissioned portraits to inspire future generations. Dr Cullen has a proven record of accomplishment in managing innovation, with a focus on the humanities and sustainable, inclusive decision-making. She was named Woman of the Year at the 2018 Women in IT Awards. Michelle holds a PhD from Dublin City University and is a DCU Alumni Achievement honouree.

Margie McCarthy is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of Engineers Ireland and the Director of Research and Policy Insight with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) supporting Ireland’s clean energy transition. Margie is also the Executive sponsor with responsibility for SEAI’s strategic communications and its equality, diversity, and inclusion strategy. She joined SEAI from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), where she served as Head of Education and Public Engagement and as Interim Director of Science for Society. She brings excellent skills and vast experience in relation to community, equality, diversity and inclusion as well as innovation and sustainability to the board of the National Gallery.

Dr Sandra Collins is the University Librarian at University College Dublin. She has worked in digital innovation and cultural heritage over 25 years in the public and private sectors. She was previously the Director of the National Library of Ireland, the founding Director of the Digital Repository of Ireland in the Royal Irish Academy, a Scientific Programme Manager in Science Foundation Ireland, a Master Engineer in Ericsson Telecommunications, and a Mathematics lecturer in Dublin City University. Dr Collins received her PhD in nonlinear fluid dynamics from UCD and is the recipient of the UCD Alumni award for Research, Innovation and Impact. She has previously served on the Boards of the Irish Manuscripts Commission, the Chester Beatty Library, and the Museum of Literature Ireland, as well as the Irish Government’s Open Data Governance Board, the government’s Advisory Forum for ‘Creating our Future’, and the Council of the National Cultural Institutions.

Adrian O'Carroll, born in Killybegs, County Donegal, was educated in Ireland and then spent most of his early career in London working as a stockbroker. He has extensive experience in the area of financial and risk management. He co-founded the Merrion Capital Group, which became one of Ireland's leading stock broking, fund management and corporate finance organisations. In 2010 as part of some ownership changes, Adrian took the opportunity to retire from the business and to devote his non-family time to providing advice on a voluntary basis to the arts and developing an understanding of the Irish visual arts sector. Adrian is currently the Chair of the Finance Committee of the Project Arts Centre in Temple Bar and is a member of the board of AKO Capital. Adrian has played a key role in developing the Project Arts Centre into an important institute for contemporary Irish Art.