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.
Public Relations
Sinead O'Doherty specializes in arts and entertainment PR. With a BA in Communications from DCU, her work spans events like the Dublin Theatre Festival and Bruce Springsteen's Irish tour. She's a member of the Public Relations Institute of Ireland, with a keen interest in social media's role in PR. Her experience includes unit publicity for film/TV in Ireland and PR for major launches, press conferences, and premieres.
EDI Researcher and Advisor
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.
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.
