Councillor Anthony Molloy, Cathaoirleach of Glenties Municipal District, has been appointed to the Údarás na Gaeltachta Interim Board.
This year, a new approach has been taken to how the board of Údarás na Gaeltachta is appointed. An election/selection process replaced the previous nomination/selection process that had been in place for the last ten years under Acht na Gaeltachta 2012.
As a result of this, seven members of the twelve members who will ultimately be on the board have been appointed this week – which means that there is a quorum and the board is able to function accordingly.
The rest of the board will be appointed when the public competition – administered by PAS (Public Appointments Service) – has been completed. Under that competition which is now live until 02/03/23, the public has the opportunity to be included for the purpose of appointment on the board and the related arrangements have been completed. More details are available here.
Mary Uí Chadhain and Debra Ní Shúilleabháin have been re-appointed to the Board and Mary Uí Chadhain will be acting as its temporary chairperson until the results of the public competition are in hand.
The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media, Catherine Martin T.D, said: “I understand that the work done by Údarás na Gaeltachta Board and Executive is particularly important. As a result of this approach to the appointment of an interim board there will be no restriction on the organisation continuing to implement its agenda. With the public competition now open, I would like to take the opportunity to encourage women to seek nominations to be appointed on state boards in general, but on the board of Údarás na Gaeltachta in particular.”
Minister of State O’Donovan, said: “The appointment of the first part of the Údarás Board is a huge step forward. I recently met with Údarás executives and got a good insight into the work of the organisation. I understand the importance of a board so that any organisation such as Údarás na Gaeltachta is able to function on a continuous basis. I am therefore happy that the first part of the Board has been appointed and that it will not be long before it will be possible to finalise the arrangements after the public competition under the umbrella of PAS is completed at the beginning of next month.”
