New Arts Council chief takes on a troubled organisation in tough political climate
Shona McCarthy has been appointed as the new director of the Arts Council, tasked with stabilizing an organization plagued by internal conflict and a failed €6.7 million IT project. She faces the dual challenge of improving staff morale and maintaining a productive relationship with the Minister for Culture.
Why it matters
The leadership transition at a major cultural institution highlights the risks of administrative mismanagement and the importance of government oversight in public arts funding.
Shona McCarthy, the new director of the Arts Council , was looking forward to taking some time off last year. She had just stepped down as chief executive of the society that runs Edinburgh Festival Fringe , the world’s largest arts festival, and said she planned to take three months to “walk the beach and watch the hawthorn come on the hedges on the Antrim coast”.
This sounds peaceful and restorative. Leading the council is unlikely to prove quite so calming. The experienced, respected McCarthy, who is from Ballycran in Co Down, has been appointed to her role after a period of turmoil at the organisation, which has been dealing with the fallout of its failed, wasteful information technology project.
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