Four new Trustees join the Lyric Board
We are delighted to confirm four new Trustee appointments to the Board of the Lyric. J. Jean Horstman, Louise Warde Hunter and Paul Hayes have joined the Board and Rosie Timoney will join in January.
The new members were announced at last month’s AGM, after an open recruitment call which attracted a very high number of respondents. They bring with them a wealth of relevant experience in areas including education and legal, as well as cultural policy and management both from within and outside Northern Ireland.
The new appointments come as the Lyric enjoys record audiences returning to the theatre post-Covid and a full season of new work on their stages. Just last month, the Lyric won two awards at the UK Theatre Awards 2022, which celebrate the outstanding achievements of theatre across the UK, including excellence in arts education. We were also recently chosen as one of AIB’s Top 10 charities in the UK for our work in the community.
Chair of the Lyric Theatre, Sir Bruce Robinson, welcoming the appointments, said:
“I am delighted to welcome Jean, Louise, Rosie and Paul to the Board. Each has experience and expertise that is very relevant to the strategic development of the Lyric and I look forward very much to working with them. The Lyric is emerging strongly from one of the most challenging periods of its existence and I want to thank most sincerely the Trustees, Jimmy Fay and his senior management team and the entire staff of the Lyric for all their hard work and dedication which has got us through the pandemic. The success in the 2022 UK Theatre Awards underscores the quality of theatre being produced throughout the Lyric.”
J. Jean Horstman
J. Jean Horstman is an experienced social entrepreneur with a background in business strategy, organisational development, fundraising, and partnerships. She is former CEO of Interise, and has held leadership positions in cultural policy and management, including the Director of Strategy at London Arts Board.
Louise Warde Hunter
Louise Warde Hunter is the Principal and Chief Executive of Belfast Metropolitan College. Previously Louise worked as a senior civil servant across Education, Justice, Agriculture and Housing and in the private and voluntary sectors throughout Britain and Ireland. Strongly committed to diversity and inclusion, Louise was Gender Champion for the Northern Ireland Civil Service and Chair of the NICS Women’s Network.
Paul Hayes
Currently Paul is the Director of An Táin Arts Centre, Dundalk and Artistic Director of Catastrophe Theatre Company. Paul was previously Head of Drama at Monaghan Institute and Community Arts Officer with Meath County Council.
Rosie Timoney
Rosie is a Senior Associate in the Corporate team at Belfast law firm Carson McDowell LLP. Rosie has served on boards of Northern Irish charities since 2016 after completing the Young Professionals on Arts Boards Programme with Arts and Business in 2015. She won the “Inspirational Trustee” award at the Arts and Business Awards 2021 for her role as Chair of Bruiser Theatre Company.