New Arts Council appointment for Deirdre

Deirdre Behan, who spent much of her early life in Dundalk, has been appointed as Strategic Development Director to the Arts Council of Ireland.

Deirdre, a daughter of artists Constance Short, Blackrock and sculptor John Behan RHA, attended Dundalk Grammar School. She holds a BA in Communications from DCU,and worked as a photographer for a number of years before returning to education to attain a MA in Interactive MultiMedia from DIT, and a Diploma in Applied Project Management from the Institute of Project Management.

She worked in BT Ireland and DCU and has previously has worked in a number of roles in the Arts Council and led the project to develop the Arts Council's award winning online services website.

Most recently, Deirdre has overseen the implementation of the Arts Council's new organisation strategy Making Great Art Work and led out on the launch of the Funding Framework that sets out the Arts Council's new approach to funding aligned to the priorities of the new strategy. She has also been responsible for the development of the new measurement framework which will allow the Arts Council to report more effectively on the outcomes of its investment.

She is a member of the Portal Advisory Group for the Implementation Arts in Education Charter.