Board Members

Aisling is Manager of SETU Xcelerate, supporting entrepreneurship in the South East of Ireland from their sites in Waterford and Kilkenny.

Aisling has almost 20 years experience working across various research and innovation roles, completing her PhD in 2016 in entrepreneurship at Waterford Institute of Technology. Her PhD focussed on the area of entrepreneurship and networks, with specific interest in the gender dimension of network development. Aisling has presented her research internationally, across Ireland, the UK, Europe and the US.

Aisling is heavily involved with Network Ireland, Ireland’s foremost organisation supporting the personal and professional development of women in business, having served as National President of Network Ireland in 2021 and formerly President of the Network Ireland Waterford branch for two years (2017 and 2018). Aisling remains on the advisory council of Network Ireland.

Aisling is hugely committed to the Arts and is proud to sit on the board of Garter Lane Arts Centre and work with her networks and expertise to support the centre.

To get in contact with Aisling, please email aisling.oneill@setu.ie.

Michael brings a wide range of experience to the Garter Lane board. His professional life was as a procurement director for Suir Engineering Ltd and is currently a cross cultural management lecturer at the International School of Business.
His connection to the Arts is as a director of many local amateur productions also a producer of radio documentaries and local theatre work.
Michael is also Chairman of Waterford Youth Arts and a member of the Waterford Cultural Quarter committee.

Pádraig has a lifetime of theatre activity from acting, through producer, production manager, set builder, the whole gambit.

He has been involved in the building, manufacturing, and service industry for forty years, as a company owner, financial director, HR, and sales, with a wide skillset available to the board.

Agnieszka Rojowska is an architect with over 20 years of experience. She moved to Ireland in 2007 to work as an Executive Architect within Waterford City Council. During that time, she was involved in several projects around the City, including the award-winning Medieval Museum.
Agnieszka is the Co-Director of ROJO-Studio Architects. She completed her MSc in Architecture & Urban Planning in 2001 and has been a member of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland RIAI since 2011. In 2013 Agnieszka graduated with HDip Business & Management from WIT and, shortly after that, became involved in Fumbally Exchange – a Co-Working Space for creative and innovative professionals where she has been a Board Director since 2015.
Her second passion after architecture is art and design. Agnieszka has taken part in several courses & workshops, including drawing, oil painting & sculpturing, which all feed into her architectural work. Since 2016 she has been a member of a judging panel for IDI (Institute of Designers in Ireland).

John arrived in Galway in 1983 to work as the technical manager with Druid Theatre Company. During his time in the west of Ireland, he also worked with The Galway Arts Festival and Macnas, eventually becoming the full-time production manager with Macnas in 1994 and General Manager from 2002 until 2008. John has also worked with the Edinburgh International Festival, The O’Casey Theatre Company and various festivals throughout the island of Ireland. John has toured extensively nationally and internationally and has worked with the Galway International Arts Festival as a venue manager for both indoor and large scale outdoor events. He spent eight years working with Galway Rural Development as a Tús Supervisor in rural East Galway. John now works in social care in Waterford where he has lived for the last four years.

A native of the An Rinn Gaeltacht, Fiachra has been living in Waterford City for the past 25 years and he and his family have been strong supporters of the arts locally.
Fiachra studied in Maynooth University, where he completed an MA by Thesis in Sociology. He was employed as a political assistant during the “Rainbow” government of the 1990s.
Since 2000, Fiachra has been a Media Relations and Communications specialist with the South Eastern Health Board and subsequently the HSE.
During his 12 years as a local authority member, Fiachra served as Mayor of Dungarvan and was also elected to Waterford County Council. It was during this time that the arts profile of the local authority was being further developed, including the official opening in April 2000 of the Old Market House Arts Centre in Dungarvan.
Fiachra served for 17 years as both an elected and government appointed Board member of Údarás na Gaeltachta. The Údarás and the Arts Council work to a strategic framework for the development of arts in Gaeltacht areas of seven counties, including Waterford, with both organisations jointly funding a broad spectrum of traditional and contemporary arts initiatives and projects through a subsidiary company called Ealaín na Gaeltachta.
Fiachra has also served as a Trustee of the Solas Cancer Support Centre in Waterford.

Councillor Blaise Hannigan was elected to the Tramore/Waterford City West Electoral Area at the Local Elections held in Waterford on 7th June 2024.

Councillor Jim Griffin is an elected member of Waterford City & County Council for the Tramore/City West Electoral Area since 2014.
A proud Waterford native, with a lifetime dedication to the enhancement of Waterford, Jim has a genuine love of the arts and is committed and proud to sit on the board of Garter Lane Arts Centre.