The SEAC Board

Vincent Woods

Director of TSEAC’s Board since 06/10/2015

Chairman of TSEAC’s Board since 22/02/2018

 

Vincent Woods is a writer and broadcaster who has worked extensively with Irish traditional musicians in creating original performance pieces. He has presented many leading arts and current affairs programmes on RTÉ Radio 1 and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4. His plays include ‘At the Black Pig’s Dyke’ (Druid Theatre Company) and ‘A Cry from Heaven’ (Abbey Theatre).Poetry collections are ‘The Colour of Language’ and ‘Lives and Miracles’ and he co-edited ‘The Turning Wave: Poems and Songs of Irish Australia’ and ‘Fermata; Writings Inspired by Music’. Plays for radio include ‘The Leitrim Hotel’ and ‘The Gospels of Aughamore’. He has written several song lyrics set to music by Charlie McGettigan, Aidan Brennan and Mairtín O’Connor and recorded by singers including Mary McPartlan and Colleen Raney. He was a contributor to the highly acclaimed Leitrim Equation stage performance with musicians including Donal Lunny and Eleanor Shanley. He has won several awards as a writer and broadcaster and is a member of Aosdána.

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Kevin Proctor

Director of TSEAC’s Board since 14/02/2013

 

A Fingal resident and an accountant by profession, Kevin worked for almost 30 years in Bostik Industries Limited (formerly Evode Industries Limited) in Swords where he commenced in 1985 as Management Accountant becoming Company Secretary and Financial Controller of the company in 1993. Later in 2006 he became Finance Director with responsibility for the consolidation of the Western Europe activities of the Bostik Group (a subsidiary of Total SA).

 

He served as a member of the Board of Management of Corduff National School, Lusk from 1998 until 2011. During the period 2007-2011 he served as Chairperson of the school’s BoM, a period which coincided with a major expansion of the school’s buildings and facilities.

 

He was appointed as Company Secretary of The Seamus Ennis Arts Centre Limited on 29/5/2014.

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Joanne Taaffe

Director of TSEAC’s Board since 17th May 2018

A graduate of Dublin City University's BA Gnó & Gaeilge, Joanne has overseen the digital marketing communications at the National Concert Hall since 2009 and was recently appointed Digital Manager at the venue.
She has worked for almost 20 years at the NCH with extensive experience in Box Office Administration, Ticketing & Customer Experience with additional qualifications in Online Marketing & Digital Strategy and Web Design.

Joanne is likely to be found on her phone watching everything that happens in the world of the Internet & Digital but manages to take regular breaks to attend many theatre productions, concerts and ballet performances throughout the year and also spends many evenings taking photos of shows at the NCH.

Growing up in a house where music was always on a radio or record player somewhere in the house, it is not surprising of Joanne's love and appreciation for arts and culture. Maybe some day, she'll pick up the violin and play again!

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Séamus O Rócháin

Board Member since January 7 2021

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Séamus hails from Milltown Malbay, Co Clare, where he first began playing traditional music. His main instrument has always been the Uilleann Pipes and he regularly plays concerts and traditional music sessions. He recorded a solo album entitled ‘An Buachaill Dreoite’ in 2009, followed by an album with Bríd Ó Donoghue in 2015. He has toured with various musicians both in Europe and the United States.

 

Séamus has always had a keen interest and involvement in the Irish language. While he completed a degree in Engineering at Trinity College and an MSc in Physics at Queens University, Belfast he decided to leave behind his career in engineering in favour of a career in education. He is now a teacher in an all-Irish secondary school in Dublin. Since 2011 he has been on the organising committee of Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy.

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Libby McCrohan

Board Member since February 23 2021

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Libby McCrohan is an Irish traditional musician and artist from Fingal. She plays a round back Greek bouzouki. Her approach to accompaniment is sensitive, subtle, and rhythmical, taking inspiration from the reg playing of uilleann pipers. Libby has performed all over Ireland and abroad and has featured on two albums to date - the critically-acclaimed ‘Heard a Long Gone Song’ by Lisa O’Neill (2018) and ‘Not Before Time... 39 Years in the Making’ by Páraic Mac Donnchadha (2018).

Libby is also very interested in visual arts, digital design and crafts. In July 2020, she won a public competition to create artworks on exchange boxes outside the SEAC. The completed works were inspired by Séamus Ennis’ music and his contribution to Ireland’s folklore.

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She holds a BA in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering from Trinity College Dublin as well as a Higher Diploma in Data Analytics.

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Councillor Cathal Boland

Board Member since September  28th 2021

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A current member of Fingal County Council, As Cathaoirleach (Mayor) Cathal performed the official opening of the Séamus Ennis Arts Centre in 2001.

He currently serves on DDLETB and related school  boards. He is a member of Fingal County Council’s Community Development, Heritage Culture and Creativity Strategic Policy Committee, The County Heritage Forum and the Audit Committee, amongst other bodies.

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An active member and former Chairman of the Fingal Old IRA Commemorative Society 1916-1921, he is a well-known public speaker on the period. Recently he scripted, directed and narrated the docudrama  “Who Shot Sergeant Kirwan?”

A graduate of the Dublin College of Catering, Cathal worked in the commercial catering sector for over three decades, retiring from the position of General Manager in Northern Ireland from one of the largest contract caterers in Ireland and the UK.

Cathal is a member of The Institute of Directors. He studied and practiced across Transport and Personnel Management, Arbitration and Finance and has wide practical experience across businesses.

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Declan Power

Board Member since March 2023

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Declan is a successful and experienced leader with a proven private sector record. He is a sales, marketing, and operations subject matter expert as well as a highly qualified program and project manager. As Fingal County Council Senior Executive Officer for Tourism & Cultural Development, Declan also brings a wealth of knowledge of the public sector and experience as a board member of a number of visitor attractions including Heritage Properties and Arts Centres.

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Anna Nolan

Board Member since July 2023

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Anna Nolan is a native of Naul.  She grew up and went to school there and can recall Seamus Ennis living in the village, she also shares the same birthday as him. Anna is a Civil Servant having worked most of her career with the Revenue Commissions and is currently working as Head of ICT Operations in the Houses of the Oireachtas Service.  Part of Anna’s remit within her role is to serve as a member on internal committees.

 

Anna has completed 8 grades of Music Theatre and is currently persuing her Diploma in this.

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Clodagh Ní Mhuirí

Board Member since July 2023

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​Clodagh is a lifelong Fingal resident with a strong interest in heritage and the arts, particularly music. After completing a degree in Law and Political Science at Trinity College Dublin, she spent time working in the Houses of the Oireachtas and with Daniel Spring & Co. Solicitors before joining Gaeloideachas - the national organisation supporting and advocating on behalf of Irish-medium schools and naíonraí - as Communication & Administration Executive. She has taken on active volunteering roles with a number of local organisations, including as President of the Fingal chapter of Junior Chamber International in 2019, and as a committee member with the Portmarnock-Malahide branch of Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, in addition to being a local Peace Commissioner. A fluent Irish speaker, Clodagh also co-founded Pop-Up Gaeltacht Mhullach Íde in 2022. In her spare time, she enjoys playing traditional music on the flute, reading, and birdwatching!