Minister for the Arts John O'Donoghue yesterday made two further appointment to the new board of the Abbey Theatre.
Actor Tom Hickey and tax specialist Suzanne Kelly join Judge Bryan McMahon, who was recently appointed chairman of the board.
The latest appointments to what will be an 11-member board complete the Minister's nominations. The remaining members will be selected by Judge McMahon, chairwoman of the Arts Council Olive Braiden, and theatre specialist John Fairleigh, who was placed on the selection committee by the Minister earlier this week.
Hickey is one of the country's leading actors and was a founding member of the Focus Theatre in Dublin before achieving wider recognition in his long-running role in the television series The Riordans.
He has worked extensively at the Abbey, particularly in acclaimed collaborations with writer and poet Tom Mac Intyre, including the production of The Great Hunger which toured extensively abroad. Hickey has also appeared on the British stage and in several films. The Minister recently expanded the size of the Abbey board specifically to accommodate places for an actor and playwright.
Suzanne Kelly is a fellow of the Irish Taxation Institute and a barrister. She was the first woman president of the institute in its 40-year history and served as a director of the VHI for a decade.
Ms Kelly was a fundraiser for the Triskel Arts Centre in Cork and served on the board of Fire Station Artists' Studios in Dublin.