Ms Clare Duignan, head of independent productions at RTE, has been appointed to the Arts Council to replace Ms Jane Gogan, who resigned yesterday. Ms Gogan, the third member to resign from the council within a week, cited pressure of work.
Last Thursday the Arts Council's chairman, Prof Brian Farrell, announced that he was leaving his post. The following day Mr Paul McGuinness, who had already served two full terms with the council, resigned.
The vacancies were respectively filled by a retired businessman, Mr Pat Murphy, and the Provost of TCD, Dr Thomas Mitchell.
The Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera, announced the appointment of Ms Duignan, who has worked in RTE for the past 23 years as a producer in both radio and television. The Minister said she had chosen the new council member for her managerial skills and her experience in making programmes.
Ms Gogan, who is commissioning editor for TV3, explained that she had decided to resign from the council after the organisation's last plenary session four weeks ago. She explained that the workload of members had increased proportionately with the growth in budgetary resources. The Arts Council's allocation from government for 2000 is £34.5 million, 23 per cent more than the figure for 1999.
"I felt I couldn't give the amount of time required by the council to see work through completely", Ms Gogan said.
Prof Farrell and Mr McGuinness also cited pressure of work as the reason for their resignations, but Ms Gogan insisted that there was no connection between her departure and theirs.
Demands on the time of council members, who give their services voluntarily, has increased considerably in recent years. In 1999 there were about 90 meetings, either of the full council or of sub-committees.
The director of the Arts Council, Ms Patricia Quinn, said: "While obviously it would be inappropriate for me to comment on these resignations, I regret the loss of the chairman and two council members, each of whom has made a significant contribution in their own way."