The Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr John O'Donoghue, has appointed two new members to the Board of Governors and Guardians of the National Gallery of Ireland.
Dr Patrick Fottrell and Mr Desmond Fitzgerald have been appointed for a term of five years.
Dr Fottrell, a Cork native, is former president of the National University of Ireland, Galway. He obtained his PhD at the University of Glasgow and completed his postdoctoral studies at Harvard University, where he had held several visiting professorships of Biochemistry.
He has held positions of registrar and deputy president at NUI Galway, and also served as a member of the Irish Sports Council.
Mr Desmond Fitzgerald, Knight of Glin, is a renowned author and expert on Irish art.
He is president of the Irish Georgian Society, a director of the Irish Architectural Archive and is on the board of Irish Landmark Trust.
Minister O'Donoghue said the two men "will make an enormous contribution to the work of the National Gallery of Ireland and its importance as a major National Cultural Institution".
He also paid tribute to the outgoing members of the Board, Mr Joe Barry and an t-Uasal Tadhg Ó hÉalaithe.