Niamh O'Donnell

Poetry Ireland

Niamh O’Donnell is Director of Poetry Ireland an all island resource organisation whose strategic intent is to nurture and develop the cultural heart and cultural offer of poetry by building content, capacity, interest, understanding, participation and engagement.  Poetry Ireland offers supports and creates opportunities for artists to share with and inspire communities and audiences.  Working in partnership and collaboratively to bring poetry to the forefront of civic life and to secure poetry's relevance for generations to come.

Throughout her career Niamh has worked across disciplines initially in the Gallery of Photography (1990), then on the re-establishment of Black Church Print Studio, an artist resource organisation (1994), followed by a position as Artistic Programme Coordinator in ArtHouse Multimedia Centre (1999) where she coordinated the sound and media residencies and the exhibitions programme. Niamh worked as General Manager in Project Arts Centre for 13 years where she was responsible for the financial and general management of the centre and all its activities as well as working as Executive Producer on the artists' development programme, PROJECT CATALYST. The initiative involved producing and co-producing the work of individual artists, across disciplines, working outside the standard model of production both in the centre as well as touring nationally and internationally. Niamh then worked as Artistic Director of Mermaid Arts Centre for seven years.  Mermaid is a multi-disciplinary arts centre in Bray, Co Wicklow. The centre presents an ambitious programme of Irish and international visual arts, dance, theatre, music and art-house cinema. During her time there Niamh commissioned and co-produced new works establishing artists residencies and development initiatives transforming the centre into a vibrant space of creation as well as presentation

Date appointed 23.06.2014