Meet the 12 new members of elite artist association Aosdána

Night Boat to Tangier author Kevin Barry is among the new members

Kevin Barry pictured in West Cork last summer. He is among 12 new members elected to Aosdána. Picture: Darragh Kane

Twelve new artists have been elected to Aosdána, the affiliation of creative artists in Ireland.

Among them are Limerick-born writer Kevin Barry, whose 2019 novel Night Boat to Tangier was longlisted for the 2019 Booker Prize, and choreographer Liz Roche, whose recent commissions include I/Thou for Cork Opera House in partnership with Sirius Arts Centre.

The newly elected members are: 

• Kevin Barry (Literature) 
• Gerard Byrne (Visual Art) 
• Pat Collins (Visual Art) 
• Jim Doherty (Music) 
• Margo Harkin (Visual Art) 
• Martin Lynch (Literature) 
• Gina Moxley (Literature) 
• Valerie Mulvin (Architecture) 
• Mairead O’hEocha (Visual Art) 
• Arthur Riordan (Literature) 
• Liz Roche (Choreography) 
• Jennifer Walshe (Music) 

There are currently 249 members of the organisation, which has a limit of 250 members. As there is a tie between candidates for the last available place, a postal ballot will be arranged as soon as possible to decide the outcome for the final place.

These latest additions take the places of thirteen members who passed away in the last year: Micky Donnelly; Ciaran Carson; Ulick O’Connor; Tom MacIntyre; Sonja Landweer; Veronica Bolay; Joe Steve O’Neachtain; Janet Mullarney; Tim Robinson; Michael Cullen; Eric Sweeney; Eugene McCabe; and Derek Mahon.

Aosdána was founded in 1981 and honours artists from five disciplines (literature, visual art, music, choreography and architecture) whose work has made an outstanding contribution to the creative arts in Ireland. 

President Michael D Higgins is the sole patron of Aosdána.