Aideen Howard - Deputy Chair of the Convention on Education

Aideen Howard is Director of The Ark Children’s Cultural Centre. She has worked in theatre and the arts as artistic director, producer, dramaturg and commissioner of new work. Her leadership of The Ark combines advocacy and art-making including the establishment of a rights-based participation practice and the founding of the Right Here Right Now festival of children’s rights.

Aideen is a PhD student in Queens University Belfast researching child and adult collaboration in performance. She has been a member of the National Campaign for the Arts, the National Advisory Council for Children, the Creative Youth Expert Advisory Group and the Taoiseach’s Taskforce for Dublin City. Prior to The Ark, Aideen was Literary Director of the Abbey Theatre and is editor of Irish Shorts: New Plays from The Abbey Theatre. She was founding Artistic Director of the multidisciplinary Mermaid Arts Centre and has worked as literary consultant to Arts Council projects. In 2014 she curated the poetry programme of The Mountains to Sea Festival.

Aideen holds BA in English and German from Trinity College, Dublin and an MA in Drama from UCD. She completed a Certificate in Children’s Rights in Queens University Belfast in 2018 and a Professional Certificate in Governance at The Institute of Public Administration in 2019 .