The director of the Dublin Theatre Festival, Mr Fergus Linehan, has landed the prestigious post of artistic director and chief executive officer of one of the world's foremost arts festivals.
An announcement that Mr Linehan will take up his new position with the Sydney Arts Festival from next January is due to be made in the Australian city today.
Before Mr Linehan moves to Australia he will direct his fifth Dublin Theatre Festival season, from September 27th to October 9th, the programme for which will be announced in May.
His initial contract is to curate and manage the 2006, 2007 and 2008 festivals in Sydney.
Established over 25 years ago, the Sydney Festival is an annual three-week multi-arts event that incorporates dance, theatre, visual arts, opera and music of all kinds.
Regarded as one of the most prestigious international cultural events, it was established as a joint initiative of the New South Wales state government and the City of Sydney Festival in 1976 as a celebration of the city. The festival has annual funding of $12 million.
Mr Linehan (34) has been director of the Dublin Theatre Festival (DTF) since 2000 and was deputy director from 1997-1999. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Abbey Theatre and sits on the boards of Theatre Forum and Theatre Shop.
During his tenure as director, the DTF expanded into the area of production. One of its notable successes was the award-winning Enda Walsh play, Bedbound.
The chairman of the Dublin Theatre Festival, Mr Peter Crowley, paying tribute to Mr Linehan, said his appointment "speaks volumes for the quality of what he has achieved with the Dublin Theatre Festival.
"Under Fergus's leadership the festival has taken great strides forward and he will leave behind a strong platform for the festival's future development."
Mr Linehan said the festival had been a huge part of his life and he was leaving it with "great sadness".
In preparing for his final festival, he and his team would "focus on ensuring that the foundations are laid to secure the festival's ongoing contribution to all that is progressive and exciting in Irish theatre."
The chairwoman of the Sydney Festival, Ms Lucy Turnbull, said their new director had "an irrepressible and youthful energy, which, when coupled with his depth of experience, will ensure that the festival continues to deliver an arts programme of the highest quality."
The Minister for the Arts and Premier of New South Wales, Mr Bob Carr, who is also the president of the Sydney Festival, said he believed Mr Linehan would bring a new perspective to their festival and exemplary skills to further develop the event.
Mr Linehan is the son of actress and Arts Council member Rosaleen Linehan and writer and former Irish Times arts editor Fergus Linehan.
Asked to name the highlights, so far, of his programming of the Dublin festival, Mr Linehan singled out the Bedbound production and the visit of the Robert Wilson-Tom Waits version of Woyzeck in 2001.
He also mentioned last year's production of Robert Lapage's The Far Side of the Moon.
Mr Linehan will be the third Irishman to hold a highly influential position in Australian arts administration.
The former director of the Belfast Festival, Mr Seán Doran, has only recently vacated the directorship of the Perth International Arts Festival.
Mr Brian Kennedy moved from the National Gallery in Dublin to become director of the Australian National Gallery.