Meet the Team

Ray has worked the Arts since leaving UCD in 1977. His work in the theatre has been seen in the UK, the US, South Africa and in France, Germany, Sweden and Spain. 

His work as Director of Axis Ballymun 2004-2011 helped to establish Axis as a premier Arts Centre in Dublin and changed his mind about the possibilities of Cultural access, inclusion and excellence. 

He was appointed City Arts Officer in September 2011.

Formerly working in Performing Arts/Street Arts production and stage management, she holds a degree in Communications and a post-grad in Cultural Policy and Arts Admin. 

She is project lead on a number of Arts Office initiated festivals including International Literature Festival Dublin, Musictown and more recently Brigit. She led and developed the city-wide multidisciplinary arts and commissioning programme for children, Children’s Arts in Libraries Creative Hubs, in partnership with Dublin City Libraries. 

She co-led the establishment of Dublin City Local Music Education Partnership, which oversees Music Generation Dublin City. On behalf of the Arts Office, she established and manages the Incubation Space Award, supporting research and development and collaborative practice. In recent years she has worked on the consultation processes that informed Dublin City Development Plan: Culture 2022-28, following which she has been project lead on the development of the Cultural Infrastructure Toolkit and Guidance.

For information and guidance on arts development and funding, strategic partnership for impact, or arts/cultural infrastructure development contact Sinead.connolly@dublincity.ie

Meabh Butler is a senior manager with over 20 years’ experience in the cultural sector,  working across museums, galleries and local authorities. 

Meabh was appointed Public Art Officer for Dublin City Council in 2025.  She oversees an extensive brief to develop, commission and care for Public Art across all Art forms for Dublin City. This involves keeping the Artist at the centre of the Public Art process while building partnerships with communities, all other sections of Dublin City Council and external stakeholders. 

As the Assistant Arts Officer for Early Years, Children and Young People in South Dublin County Council, she researched, developed and implemented the first arts programme for early years and children whilst also managing the Public Art programme IN CONTEXT 5, a series of commissions specifically for early years, children and young people.  

Prior to working in Councils, Meabh held positions in museums and galleries across Derry, London and Dublin. As Head of Access and Engagement at Void Gallery, Derry, Northern Ireland, she developed the programme Void Engage, an extensive outreach programme that connected communities across Derry with contemporary art. 

She was the Gallery Development Manager for Photo London; Assistant Curator in the Touring department of the Hayward Gallery where she organised the exhibitions, Elizabeth Price Curates, Art From Elsewhere and Listening. Meabh was also Exhibitions Manager and Galleries and Museums liaison for Antony Gormley Studio where she oversaw the installation of large-scale commissions and exhibitions worldwide. She was Exhibition Manager at the Royal Academy of Art, London managing various exhibitions including Anselm Kiefer; From Paris, A Taste for Impressionism and Mexico: A Revolution in Art. Meabh also spent 4 years working at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, working with a wide variety of contemporary and modern artists including Philippe Parreno, Douglas Gordon, Liam Gillick, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Lucian Freud, Rivane Neuenschwander and Isaac Julien. 

She is a graduate of University College Dublin and holds a BA (Honours) degree in History of Art and French, an MA in Irish Art and Architecture, a Ph.D. in History of Art and a post-graduate Diploma in Arts Administration. 

She has developed and delivered major exhibition collaborations with international museums in Europe, Russia and Australia. She is a published author and a regular contributor of scholarly articles and essays to international and national exhibition publications and art journals. She has delivered guest lectures, conference papers and contributed as a discussion panellist for a diverse range of audiences in Ireland, UK, Austria, Germany, Australia, Japan, and Italy. 

She has extensive experience of identifying, negotiating, developing and maintaining partnerships with external agencies, networks and individuals for the promotion of the arts. She can provide mentoring, information, advice and guidance around the field of arts development including commissions, exhibitions, public programming, academic partnerships, cross disciplinary collaborations and commissioned writing. 

If you are interested in arts development contact Margarita at margarita.cappock@dublincity.ie

Kelly is an academic, practitioner, and an Assistant Arts Officer for Dublin City Council. Her career centres on arts and performance for community development and targeted demographics. In her role with the local authority, she has managed high-profile cultural initiatives, including producing the award-winning Sing a Song of Docklands and project-managing the creation of the Artane Place Artist Workspaces. She continues to consult extensively with professional and grassroots arts organisations on strategy development and public engagement.

She holds a PhD in contemporary Irish Theatre and Culture from Edge Hill University, funded by a prestigious institutional scholarship award. Her doctoral thesis, "Northside Realism: Critique or Illusion?", explores the spatial topography of Dublin city alongside an interrogation of the Northside Realism school of theatre. She completed her undergraduate studies at Liverpool Hope University, where she was awarded the John Godber Prize for Outstanding Achievement.

Previously a lecturer in Applied and Community Performance across several universities in the North West of England, Kelly has delivered research papers internationally, notably serving as a keynote speaker for the Identity Matters series at Uppsala University, Sweden. Prior to her work in academia, she toured internationally with the axis Arts and Community Resource Centre in Ballymun, playing lead roles in two world premieres by playwright Dermot Bolger, and she also served as the axis Theatre Artist in Residence 2011-2012.

If you are interested in Arts for Development or Strategic Planning and Innovation for your organisation, contact Kelly at kelly.hickey@dublincity.ie 

She is a manager in the creative, arts, and education sector spanning two decades designing local, national and international programmes. As member of the team in Dublin City Arts Office, she supports strategic planning and development and delivers targeted programmes of work including policy, grants, research and bursary initiatives.  

She is proficient in public sector administration protocols and budget management and develops networks and relationships across with a broad range of stakeholders and agencies, governmental and non-governmental, trade union, business, voluntary, community groups offering advice, advocacy, initiation of new arts projects and advise around the implementation of the arts. 

She has an MA in History of Art and received the Joy E. Feinberg scholarship for outstanding leadership in the Master of Arts programme in Museum Studies, from John F. Kennedy University, Berkeley, California.  She is a curator of contemporary visual arts in education experiences for/with targeted audiences and offers training, mentorship and coaching in enquiry led approaches to mediating artwork for artists, teachers, community workers. 

If you are interested in Arts Training, Research and Development Opportunities that Impacts Educators, Artists and Young People contact Liz at liz.coman@dublincity.ie