Festival Patron
An internationally renowned actor, Belfast born Stephen Rea has appeared in films such as V for Vendetta, Michael Collins, Interview with the Vampire, Breakfast On Pluto and Neli Jordan’s The Crying Game – for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. Ranked by the Irish Times as one of the top twenty Irish film actors of all time, he has also enjoyed a distinguished career on stage and television and has had a long relationship with TradFest.
Chairman
A former Irish Fianna Fáil politician, Noel Dempsey has served as Chairman of The Temple Bar Company since 2014. TD for the Meath and Meath West constituencies from 1987 to 2011, he served as Minister for Environment and Local Government, Minister for Education and Science, Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources and Minister for Transport.
FESTIVAL DIRECTOR
One of Ireland’s most respected tenor banjo players in Irish traditional music, over the years Kieran Hanrahan has helped to found a number of bands such as Inchiquin, Stockton’s Wing and The Templehouse Ceili Band. He presents RTE Radio’s traditional Irish music show Ceili House, works as an advisor to Ceolthas, is Artistic Director of Scoil Eigse (part of Fleadh Ceoil Na h ‘Eireann) and was recently appointed Chair of Chair of Culture Ireland Expert Advisory Committee.
CEO
The CEO and co-founder of the Temple Bar Company. With a wide range of experience in public affairs, tourism, arts and urban management he has spent over 20 years working in the Temple Bar area. More recently he has become involved in TV production with Ireland In Music, a new TV Music Show on RTE and podcast production and development.
CMO
Claudine Murray has over 20 years’ experience in marketing with a strong focus on Festivals and event management, working on a number of events with the Temple Bar Company including TradFest Temple Bar, Festival of Politics, Temple Bar Tailgates, Blooms Day, Croke Park Classics and the Temple Bar Summer Night Market.
Independent researcher
Emma Grove is a postgraduate researcher who joined the Temple Bar Company in 2021. She received her M.A. with first class honours in music at the University of Glasgow and her masters with first class honours in Music and Culture from University College Dublin. Her role is to research issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion for TradFest Temple Bar and aid in policy making for future events.
Digital Communications Manager
Ainsley Kavanagh recently graduated with a MSc. in Marketing Practice from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School and is also an alumnus of Ireland's leading music industry college, BIMM Dublin, holding a first class honours BA in Commercial Modern Music. Passionate about live music, events and culture she joined the Temple Bar Company in 2021 as part of the digital marketing and social media team.
Public Relations
Sinead O’Doherty has two decades of experience working at the highest level of arts and entertainment PR in Ireland. After completing her BA in Communications at DCU where she focused on public relations, cultural studies, research methods, marketing, creative writing and photography, she went to work with Gerry Lundberg PR. While there she led on many of the major PR strategies including Dublin Theatre Festival, Galway International Arts Festival, Kilkenny Arts Festival, Wexford Festival Opera, Dublin Book Festival, Cinemagic, TradFest and MusicTown.
Podcast Producer
A senior music producer for RTE Radio 1 For 16 years, Aidan Butler was responsible for such diverse programmes as Country Time, Roots Freeway, Ceilí House, In Concert, In Session and Jazz on the Bay series. He was also the main producer behind the Radio 1 Playlist and Album of the Week, becoming one of the main supporters of new Irish music. Described by Hot Press as Ireland’s John Peel due to his zeal for discovering untapped talent, he gave radio debuts to the likes of James Vincent McMorrow, Gavin James and Lisa Hannigan.
Brand Creative Direction
Mr + Mrs Stevens is a creative brand consultancy, a partnership between designer Siobhán O’Donovan and writer Conor Stevens. For clients with concepts they realise brands into being. For existing brands they help to identify and articulate their messages. They’ve doing just that for TradFest Temple Bar since 2016.
Dr. Aileen Dillane is Senior Lecturer in Music at the Irish World Academy at the University of Limerick where she teaches traditional, folk, world and popular musics. A traditional musician, she is also PI on the FestiVersities research project examining European Music Festivals including TradFest Temple Bar.
Dr Sarah Raine is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Ethnomusicology at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick. She is a part of FestiVersities, a HERA funded research project which explores the relationship between culture, public space, and social integration at music festivals in five European countries – Ireland, Denmark, The Netherlands, Poland, and the UK. TradFest Temple Bar is one these festivals.
