Patrick Prendergast is a university academic. He is currently Chairperson of the Governing Body of South East Technological University and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin. He served as President and Provost of Trinity College Dublin (2011-2021), when Literature Ireland and the Trinity Centre for Literary and Cultural Translation were co-located to the newly renovated Georgian building at 36 Fenian Street, Dublin, making it a venue for literary translation, study and research.
Patrick Prendergast was appointed to the Board in August 2023.
Lisa Coen is founding co-publisher at Tramp Press. Tramp is a Dublin-based publisher committed to discovering exceptional new writing. Lisa graduated from NUI Galway and holds a PhD from the School of English, Trinity College Dublin.
Lisa Coen was appointed to the Board on 1st July 2022.
Danielle McLaughlin is a writer based in Cork, Ireland. She is the author of the short story collection Dinosaurs on Other Planets, and her stories have appeared in the New Yorker, The Irish Times, the Stinging Fly, and various anthologies. Danielle has won the Windham Campbell Prize and the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award. Her first novel, The Art of Falling, was published in 2021.
Danielle McLaughlin joined the board of Literature Ireland in July 2022.
Charles O’Regan is Company Secretary and Head of Finance in the Economic and Social Research Institute. He is a qualified accountant and a fellow member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accounts. He holds a B.Comm from UCD. He has over 40 years’ experience in financial and governance roles. He also provides assistance to the Irish Economic Association, Economic and Social Studies, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and he is a member of the forum for the implementation of Impact 2030, Ireland’s Research and Innovation Strategy.
Charles joined the Board in August 2023.
Lebanese-born Dr Rita Sakr is Associate Professor in Postcolonial and Global Literatures at Maynooth University, Ireland. She is the author of two monographs and many journal articles/book chapters, co-editor of two collections of essays, and co-director of an ESRC-funded documentary.
Rita is a member of the jury for the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, commissioning editor for the Arab and Middle Eastern Literatures volumes of the Literary Encyclopedia, co-founder of the Irish Network for Middle Eastern and North African Studies and serves on committees, public engagement initiatives and international funded research projects focused on forced displacement, especially from the MENA region.
Rita Sakr joined the board of Literature Ireland on the 20th of January 2022.
Dr Audrey Whitty is the Director of the National Library of Ireland (NLI) since February 2023. From 2019 to January 2023 she was the Deputy Director/Head of Collections and Learning at the National Museum of Ireland (NMI). During 2015-19 Dr Whitty was Keeper of the Art and Industrial Division, at NMI. Throughout 2013 and 2014 she was Curator of European and Asian Glass at The Corning Museum of Glass, New York. From 2001 to 2013, Dr Whitty was Curator of Ceramics, Glass and Asian collections, Art and Industrial Division, NMI.
She has authored over ninety publications and lectured to such institutions as the Sorbonne, Paris; Trinity College Dublin; Art Institute of Chicago; National Maritime Museum, Greenwich; SOFA (Sculptural Objects and Functional Art), Chicago; National University of Ireland, Galway; the American Irish Historical Society, New York City; the Irish-Chinese Cultural Society; New York Metropolitan Glass Club; University College Dublin; Museum of Glass, Tacoma, Washington; National University of Ireland, Maynooth and National College of Art & Design, Dublin.
Dr Audrey Whitty was appointed to the board in January 2024.
Ambassador Tom Hanney served as the Deputy Permanent Representative of Ireland to the EU after serving two years as Irish Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium and Head of Ireland’s Liaison Office to the Partnership for Peace at NATO.
From 2006 to 2010, Tom Hanney was Joint Secretary of the North‐South Ministerial Council, based in Armagh; before this, he worked in the Department of the Taoiseach on matters related
to EU coordination and the European Council.
He was responsible for UN and globalisation issues for the Department of Foreign Affairs (1999‐2004) and was Ireland’s Permanent Representation to the UN in Geneva, where he dealt with the UN Conference on Disarmament (1995‐99). His previous diplomatic service involved appointments to the
Embassies of Ireland in Germany, Saudi Arabia, and Sweden and work with the Anglo‐Irish and economic divisions of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Tom Hanney is Chair of Graphic Studio Dublin.
Tom Hanney joined the Board of Literature Ireland in September 2025.
Sinéad McGovern is a Director at Q4 Public Relations.
Sinéad is a communications expert with 20 years' experience in senior roles in the public and private sector. She was formerly Communications Manager at IT Sligo, Press Officer at Fianna Fáil, and a journalist with the Galway Advertiser.
Sinéad McGovern joined the board in December 2025.
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