WEXFORD FESTIVAL TRUST
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL
MEMBERS’ BIOGRAPHIES – REVISED DRAFT 16-2-15
Terry Neill (Chairman)
Terry is a director of UBM plc, now the world’s largest events company. In his 30 year career with
Accenture/Andersen Consulting he was based in Dublin, Chicago and London. He was Chairman of Andersen
Worldwide and Accenture; and was a director of Bank of Ireland Group and CRH plc. He is a graduate of Trinity,
with an MBA from London Business School, where he was also a Governor for 13 years. He is a member of the
Board of Trinity Foundation and the Trinity Arts & Humanities Governance Board. He was chairman of Cooperation Ireland (GB) and Camerata Ireland, Barry Douglas’s all island chamber orchestra. Terry and his wife
Marjorie are Bravura Friends of Wexford Festival Opera and are also major gift donors, sponsoring one of the
2014 Festival’s main stage performances.
Michael M. Collins SC
Michael is a Senior Counsel practising in the fields of commercial, competition, EU law and judicial review. He
was Chairman of the Bar Council of Ireland form 2008 to 2010 and in 2012 was elected a Fellow of the
International Society of Barristers. He is currently Adjunct Professor of Law and a member of the Law
Development Council at UCD Law School, and is a board member of the Dublin Theatre Festival and the Irish
Film Institute. Michael is currently an Ensemble Friend of Wexford Festival Opera.
Jim Donnelly
Jim is the Chairman of leading advertising agency DDFH&B Group, consisting of five subsidiary companies, and
which is an owner-managed Irish agency with an international network partner in JWT, part of WPP, one of the
world’s foremost agency networks.
Mary Finan
Amongst many roles Mary was one of the founding partners, and was the former Chair, of WHPR; the former
Chair of the RTÉ Authority, and of the ESRI; a former board member of the DDDA and Opera Ireland, the first
woman President of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, and current board member of the Gate Theatre. Mary is
currently an Ensemble Friend of Wexford Festival Opera.
Eithne Healy
Eithne is a former Chair of Opera Theatre Company, the Dublin Theatre Festival and the Abbey Theatre. She has
served on the boards of the Arts Council, the National Museum, COTHÚ, (the precursor of Business to Arts), and
Temple Bar Cultural Trust, in addition to serving on the Government’s Millennium Committee and on the
Centenary Celebration of James Joyce. Eithne and Liam were major donors to the Wexford Festival Foundation.
In recognition of their extraordinary support of Wexford they are Life Friends of Wexford Festival Opera.
John Healy
John was CEO and President of The Atlantic Philanthropies. On his retirement he was appointed Adjunct
Professor in the Centre for Non-profit Management at Trinity College Dublin. He has served on many boards
including those of the Trinity Foundation and the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland, and he chairs the
board of Alliance Publishing Trust. John is currently an Aria Friend of Wexford Festival Opera.
Trevor Jacobs
Trevor is a former Director of Arks Advertising Agency. He was also a lecturer in DIT (MSc in Advertising) and
was responsible for the clearance of all alcohol advertising in Ireland. He is a former President of Trinity
Business Alumni. Trevor is currently a Bravura Friend of Wexford Festival Opera.
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David Lane
David is the Managing Director, Ireland of Ecclesiastical Insurance, one of Wexford Festival Opera’s new
corporate sponsors in 2014. Formerly he was the Managing Director (Western Europe) of Genworth Financial
and General Manager Ireland of Transamerica Insurance Finance Company.
Judith Lawless
Judith is a partner in the banking and financial services department of McCann Fitzgerald law firm in Dublin. She
served as President of the Irish Association of Corporate Treasures. Judith is a Bravura Friend of Wexford
Festival Opera and has committed to be a Cast Sponsor of the 2015 Festival.
Declan Lynch
Declan is the Chief Executive of Elavon Financial Services, a leading corporate production sponsor of Wexford
Festival Opera for the past two years. Previously he held senior positions in Ireland and the USA with J.M. Huber,
GE Capital, IBM and Novell.
Dr. Oran Mc Grath
Oran is the Founder and Executive Chairman of the Wexford based multi-asset investment management
company, Incapt, and is a co-founding Director of Dilosk, which recently acquired the ICS Mortgages business
from Bank of Ireland and serves as its Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director. He acquired and served as
the Chief Executive Officer of Medentech, the Irish global specialist in disinfection tablets headquartered in
Wexford, from 2007 to 2013, and is the former Chairman of the Fondomonte Group of Companies and of
Wexford Creamery. Previously he held senior positions in Ireland and the USA with Bausch & Lomb.
John Reynolds
John is the former Chief Executive of KBC Bank Ireland, and former President of the Irish Banking Federation. He
is currently an independent non-executive director and chair of the audit committee of Computershare Investor
Services Ireland, and a non-executive director of Business in the Community. John is currently an Ensemble
Friend of Wexford Festival Opera.
Prof Sarah Rogers
Sarah retired as one of Ireland’s leading medical consultants in the specialty of dermatology. She was a Consultant
Dermatologist in St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, and is an Associate Professor of Medicine in UCD. Sarah
is currently studying for a four year Batchelor of Arts degree in Latin and Classical Civilisation in Trinity College,
Dublin. She is an Ensemble Friend of Wexford Festival Opera, and supported the American Friends of Wexford
Opera inaugural New York Dinner Gala in 2013.
16-02-2015
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