The Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O'Donoghue, has announced the membership of the new Irish Film Board.
Among those appointed to the body are Ms Kirsten Sheridan, a writer and film-maker and the daughter of the Oscar-winning Irish director Mr Jim Sheridan.
Also appointed were Mr James Morris (chair), Mr Alan Gilsenan, Ms Margaret McCarthy MacIntyre, Ms Lesley McKimm, Mr Kevin Moriarty and Mr Tristan Orpen Lynch.
Mr O'Donoghue said he hoped the new board members would continue to develop the Irish film industry and to enrich the cultural environment of the nation.
"Film has a unique ability to convey to a wide global audience the stories and atmosphere of any local community and it is my intention to continue to support indigenous Irish filmmaking," he said.
"I'm especially pleased that Mr James Morris has accepted my invitation to become chair of the new board and I wish to personally thank the outgoing members of the film board, and in particular Mr Ossie Kilkenny, in their stalwart and rigorous commitment to developing a film industry in Ireland."
The appointments are valid until January 17 th,2009.
Mr James Morris is a film editor founder of Windmill Lane Pictures and recording studios in Dublin. He led the Windmill Consortium to win the television franchise for TV3 in 1989. He joined the board of the Dublin Film Festival last year.
Mr Alan Gilsenan is an award-winning filmmaker and theatre director. He is chairman of the Irish Film Institute and a member of the Irish Film Board since 2001. He has been appointed to the board for a second term.
Ms Margaret McCarthy MacIntyre is a former secondary teacher and freelance journalist. She is director of the St Mary's/Notre Dame Ireland Programme at NUI Maynooth. She lectures in the history of Irish culture and is also being appointed to the board for a second term.
Ms Lesley McKimm is an independent producer who has been working in television drama, film and documentary production for the last 14 years.
Mr Tristan Orpen Lynch has been involved in the Irish film and music industry since 1989.
Mr Kevin Moriarty is managing director of Ardmore Studios. He is chair of the Kerry Screen Commission and a board member of the Wicklow Film Commission and the Irish Film Institute.
Ms Kirsten Sheridan is a writer, director and producer. She directed her first feature, the critically acclaimed Disco Pigsin 2001, and went on to co-write the Oscar and Golden Globe nominated In Americawith her father.