Governance

Ray Boland is a barrister who has been practising at the bar in Cork since 1997. He studied law in UCC from 1990 to 1993 and in the King’s Inns, Dublin, from 1993 to 1995. He tutored criminal law in UCC, and lectured in the Law Society in Cork, and was a member of the Bar Council of Ireland from 2013 to 2017.

Ray has an interest in the arts and is a long term supporter of Corcadorca theatre company. He is a lifetime member of Cork Arts Theatre. He also served on the board of Cork Midsummer Festival from 2006 to 2012.

He explores questions around the human voice and its creative power, at the intersection of theatre, performance/live art, installation, and music/sound; often leading interdisciplinary research teams. A former laureate of the Wellcome Trust Large Arts Awards, he also collaborates with researchers from speech and language science, voice and speech medicine, and vibration, materials and textile engineering, and with an array of visual and design thinkers.

Yvon is also the Artistic Director of Touch & Tract and Your Vivacious Voice.

Katherine has nearly 20 years’ experience in building strategic global networks as well as developing and managing projects to support regional development. As the former Director of International Relations at Cork Chamber of Commerce, she worked with stakeholders across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, both in Ireland and abroad, in areas such as place marketing, place branding, exporting, talent attraction, diaspora engagement, investment attraction and economic development. 

Katherine currently works freelance on a variety of projects, including as Director of Destination for The VQ, a business and community membership organisation for a local neighbourhood in Cork city, and Sustainability Lead for Visit Cork, the DMO responsible for promoting Cork for business and leisure tourism. 

Katherine was appointed Honorary Consul for South-West Ireland by the British Embassy in Dublin in October 2023. The role involves building networks on behalf of the Embassy and facilitating collaborations between the UK and Ireland in the areas of business, culture, education, research and local government. 

She holds a BA in European Studies and Languages (University College Cork), a Masters in Italian Translation (NUI Galway) and has completed training in Business Sustainability Management with the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership (University of Cambridge).

Julie is a Theatre Director and Producer. She holds a BA and an MA in Drama & Theatre Studies from UCC and was the 2022/23 Jerome Hynes Clore Leadership Fellow. Julie is currently collaborating as director on several new plays and stage adaptations in development. Forthcoming projects include The House Must Win, a musical by Mick Flannery, Cradled By The Waves, a theatrical live music experience in collaboration with Jenn Grant (NS, Canada), and Infinity by Hannah Moscovitch for Cork Arts Theatre. 

Directing credits include: Theatre For One: Made In Cork edition (Landmark Productions/Octopus Theatricals), Found by Aideen Wylde (BrokenCrow/Cork Midsummer Festival), The Lonesome West by Martin McDonagh (The Everyman), Bluetooth by Rachel Thornton (The Everyman), Autumn Royal by Kevin Barry (The Everyman, associate director for remount), Dancing At Lughnasa by Brian Friel (The Everyman), The Factory Girls by Frank McGuinness (The Everyman), The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart by David Greig (The Everyman), Lovers by Brian Friel (The Everyman), Mantle by Ronan FitzGibbon (BrokenCrow).

Producing credits include the world premiere of Mick Flannery’s Evening Train musical (2019), the world premiere of Asking for It by Louise O’Neill (Landmark Productions and The Everyman, 2018), the world premiere of Autumn Royal by Kevin Barry (The Everyman, 2017) and the Irish premiere of Futureproof by Lynda Radley (The Everyman, 2017), and The Scarlet Letter, devised by Conflicted Theatre Company after Nathaniel Hawthorne (2013). 

She was Artistic Director/CEO at Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray from 2020 – 2024 and Artistic Director of The Everyman, Cork from 2014 to 2020. She has a professional background in performance (acting and singing) and worked as an actor, director & producer with numerous Irish arts organisations and companies, including Painted Bird, Conflicted, BrokenCrow, Kinsale Arts Week, Cork Midsummer Festival, Hammergrin, Corcadorca, Meridian, Dublin Theatre Festival, Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre, The Performance Corporation, Gare St. Lazare, Once Off Productions, Landmark Productions, and Siren Productions.

Julie joined the board of Graffiti Theatre Company in September 2017 and is the current Chair. She sits on the Irish Playography Panel at Irish Theatre Institute and served on the board of Theatre Forum Ireland from 2016 to 2022, taking on the role of Chair in the final three years of her term.

Being a daughter, sister, wife, aunt and mum are the roles I treasure most. I sing a little, play a little guitar & piano. I began my love of teaching in my late father’s garden with his rhubarb plants as my students and naturally moved to teaching real students a little later!

I have spent the majority of my teaching career in St. Vincent’s Convent Primary School where I am Principal since 2014. It is a very special place and I count my blessings every day. Working with children, I can say that the most complex expressions of the human soul I have witnessed have been from the “mouth of babes”.

As a young child I did not have access to youth theatre and so the poet/author/word seamstress in me is more concrete than elastic. I borrow from the creativity of others to express and release my inner voice, and so one of my strongest convictions is to the expression  children’s voice and creativity. As a school, we have a decades long relationship with Graffiti Theatre.

As a parent, I brought my own children to the weekly Activate drama workshops. I am proud to sit on the Board of Graffiti Theatre.

With a background in sales and marketing, Karen’s curiosity for Ireland’s non-profit sector sparked after more than a decade in the corporate world. Since then, she has held senior fundraising roles with both local and national charities, building strengths in unique donor acquisition strategies, enhancing donor journeys, and forging valuable partnerships. Now self-employed, Karen owns Misneach Fundraising, an organisation that works with charities to unlock their fundraising potential by strengthening their outreach and communication strategies.

Karen holds a BA in Psychology and Sociology, a foundation that provides valuable insights into donor behaviour and engagement. Committed to community-driven change, she believes strongly in good governance and the power of communities to support those in need. She is particularly passionate about encouraging and mentoring young talent to join and stay in the sector.

Her work involves cultural quarter and cultural organisational development, funding applications and bid development at national and European level, partnership development, project feasibility and cultural programme and project delivery.

Karan has led multiple projects which incorporate the voice of children and young people, which she views as central to enhancing Ireland’s creative youth and forging sustainable creative careers. Important programmes in this space include current development of Youth Theatre Ireland’s Strategic Plan, Organisational Review and Strategic Plan development for Graffiti Theatre Company, design of multiple county-based Music Generation programmes and development of a Creative Youth Partnership for Laois and Offaly.