Chairperson and Board members reappointed to Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland
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From: Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
- Published on: 13 May 2025
- Last updated on: 13 May 2025
The Minister for Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan, has today announced the reappointment of four members to the Board of Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland.
The reappointments are:
- Ray Harman
- Dr Zélie Asava
- John McDonnell
- Eoin Holohan
In addition, Minister O’ Donovan reappointed the existing Chairperson, Ray Harman as Chairperson of the Board.
Commenting on the appointments, Minister O’Donovan said:
“I want to sincerely thank the four Board members for their contribution to the Board since 2021. This is an exciting time for Screen Ireland with the recent launch of their new Strategic plan, Fís Athnuaite 2025 – 2029 which has a stronger focus on building the necessary infrastructure to empower the audiovisual sector and has a renewed vision for the next phase of the Irish screen industry, building on existing work and using recent successes as its guide.
"I am also reappointing existing Chairperson Ray Harman as the Chairperson of the Board. Ray has shown great leadership over the past 9 months as Chairperson and I wish him well as he continues this role over the coming 4 years.”
Notes
Ray Harman
Ray Harman has worked as a songwriter and composer for film, TV, animation and theatre for over 20 years. His work has been nominated for and won several awards including 2 IFTAs (Irish Film and TV Academy Awards) and Best Original Score for Liam Gavin’s horror, ‘A Dark Song’. Recent TV and film work includes the acclaimed series ‘Blood’, ‘The Young Offenders’, ‘Penance’, ‘Taken Down’, ‘The Farthest’, ‘Shooting the Mafia’, ‘Inspector George Gently’ and ‘Love/Hate’. Ray is a board member of IMRO and a former director and founder member of the Screen Composers Guild of Ireland.
Dr. Zélie Asava
Dr Zélie Asava is a Screen Studies academic. She is the author of The Black Irish Onscreen: Representing Black and Mixed-Race Identities on Irish Film and Television (Peter Lang, 2013) and Mixed Race Cinemas: Multiracial Dynamics in America and France (Bloomsbury, 2017). Her work addresses the intersections of race, gender and sexuality in Irish, French, Francophone African and US cinema. She has lectured at UCD, IADT and DkIT where she was a director of academic programmes in Screen Arts and a member/chair of management boards, panels and reviews. She currently sits on the boards of the Catalyst International Film Festival and the journal Unapologetic, and works as an independent scholar and film classifier.
John McDonnell
John McDonnell co-founded one of Ireland’s leading production companies Fantastic Films in 2002 and has produced and collaborated on a diverse range of film and television projects, receiving over 100 international awards, including an Oscar™ in 2006 for Martin McDonagh’s short film, Six Shooter. Recent films include Vivarium, directed by Lorcan Finnegan, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots, which premiered at Le Semaine de la Critique, Cannes Film Festival 2019 and was the winner of GAN Distribution Award. Other recent films include Sea Fever, directed by Neasa Hardiman and starring Connie Nielsen and Dougray Scott. He also executive produced Arracht, Ireland's 2021 International Feature Film entry for the Academy Awards. In 2008, McDonnell received his Hons MA in Screenwriting. McDonnell served as a governing body member of IADT 2016-2021. McDonnell designed and runs the Advanced Producer course for Screen Skills Ireland and TUD.
Eoin Holohan
Eoin Holohan has worked in the Irish creative screen industry for over 25 years. He has worked as a Location Manager on numerous productions, including major award-winning projects such as Normal People, The Lobster and Sing Street. Eoin has recently served as Chairperson for the Locations Guild of Ireland and sits on the Board of Directors for Screen Guilds of Ireland.