THE director of the Arts Council, Mr Adrian Munnelly, announced his resignation yesterday after 13 years in the post.
"It is a personal, professional decision. I am moving to a new job," he said.
Mr Munnelly said he had been planning a career move "out of the public sector and into the private sector" for the last three years. He has been completing an MA in the Business School at the last two years.
He has accepted a position at Carr where, he said, "my role will be in communications training."
Looking back on his time as director of the Arts Council, Mr Munnelly said he was most satisfied with the significant development of the arts outside Dublin.
Twenty five of the local authorities now had arts officers. He was also pleased with the close relationship maintained between the Arts Council in the Republic and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, even during "the worst times of violence".
Mr Munnelly was known for his accessibility, lack of pretension and determination to both develop the infrastructure of arts facilities countrywide and raise the Arts Council's budget.
He survived a contentious episode when 200 copies of a controversial history of the council were shredded, leading to the resignation in protest of a council officer.
While proud of the many achievements of the council during his time as director, Mr Munnelly admitted that "running an organisation like the Arts Council in a dynamic and changing environment becomes very demanding. After a while, you need a change."
He said there had been no falling out with the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Mr Higgins "I admire what he has achieved."
Prof Ciaran Benson, chairman of the Arts Council, in a tribute to Mr Munnelly, said. "His term of office has been marked by a significant heightening of the profile of the arts a eland, by a remarkable expansion in the infrastructure of arts facilities, by improved career opportunities for artists and arts administrators, and by a widespread growth of interest in nil the arts by young people, communities and groups."