Fiach Mac Conghail (born 4 August 1964) is CEO of the Digital Hub Development Agency. He is a former Director of the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the p ...

from 2005 to 2016. He is a former Senator from 2011 to 2016 and was appointed by the

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the o ...

Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 2017, Leader of the Opposition from ...

Early life

His father, Muiris Mac Conghail, was a filmmaker and broadcaster who served as Government Press Secretary and was Controller of Programmes at RTÉ; his mother is a noted

genealogist Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kins ...

. Mac Conghail was raised in the Dublin suburb of

Rathgar Rathgar (), is a suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It was originally a village which from 1862 was part of the township of Rathmines and Rathgar; it was absorbed by the growing city and became a suburb in 1930. It lies about three kilometres south of ...

and attended

Coláiste Eoin Coláiste Eoin is a Catholic voluntary secondary (Irish language school) for boys, under the trusteeship of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, in Booterstown, County Dublin, Ireland. It has hurling and Gaelic football teams, traditional Irish m ...

and later

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, where he studied Economics and Politics.

Career in the arts

Mac Conghail was the artistic director at the Project Arts Centre from 1992 to 1999. He was the Director of Ireland's participation at the

Expo 2000 Expo 2000 was a World Expo held in Hanover, Germany from 1 June to 31 October 2000. It was located on the Hanover Fairground (Messegelände Hannover), which is the largest exhibition ground in the world. Initially some 40 million people were expe ...

world fair and acted as Cultural Programme Commissioner during the Irish

Presidency of the European Union The official title President of the European Union (or President of Europe) does not exist, but there are a number of presidents of European Union institutions, including: * the President of the European Council (since 1 December 2019, Charle ...

in 2004. With his brother Cuan, he established the production company ''Brother Films'' in 1996. Mac Conghail was a special adviser to the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism John O'Donoghue from 2002 to 2005. In 2005, he was appointed as Director of the Abbey Theatre. When Mac Conghail announced his 2016 programme, "Waking the Nation", for the centennial year of the 1916 Rising, a storm ensued. Only one of the ten plays on the programme was written by a woman and only three directed by women. This sparked a campaign called "Waking the Feminists" to demand gender equality in theatre. Mac Conghail acknowledged that he had "failed to check his privilege".

Public life

He was appointed to

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann (, ; "Senate of Ireland") is the upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (the lower house). It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its memb ...

in May 2011 and sat as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

. He was the chairman of the ''We the Citizens'', an initiative that aims to encourage the participation of the public in political affairs.

Personal life

Mac Conghail has two daughters with actress

Bríd Ní Neachtain Bríd Ní Neachtain ( ; born 1959) is an Irish actress known for ''Dancing at Lughnasa''. Early life Born in Galway, Neachtain is a native of Connemara. She starred in an adaptation of Máirtín Ó Cadhain's 1948 novel, ''Cré na Cille''. Sh ...

References

External links

We the Citizens website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mac Conghail, Fiach 1964 births Living people Abbey Theatre Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Independent members of Seanad Éireann Irish film producers Irish theatre directors Irish theatre managers and producers Members of the 24th Seanad Nominated members of Seanad Éireann Politicians from Dublin (city) People educated at Coláiste Eoin Mac Conghail family Theatre people from Dublin (city)