Judges.

Feargal brougham| into president

INTO President Feargal Brougham is principal of St Paul's Senior National School in Ayrfield, Dublin 13. Feargal was born and reared in Raheny in Dublin. He attended Scoil Ide and Scoil Neasain primary schools. He travelled into Colaiste Mhuire, Parnell Square, for his secondary education and studied for a B. Ed at Coláiste Mhuire, Marino.

Following one year spent working as a librarian for the Dublin City Council, Feargal taught for eight years in Ballyfermot, with the exception of a year working in United Arab Emirates. In 1999 he moved back north of the Liffey to take up a post as a learning support teacher in St Paul's SNS, Ayrfield, Dublin 13. In 2015, he was appointed principal of this school.

From 2009 to 2015, Feargal represented teachers in north county Dublin on the INTO's Central Executive Committee. From 2017 he served on the union's Benefit Funds Committee.

Feargal is married to Caroline Farrell and lives with their three children, Megan, Sorcha, and Lúc in Marino.

Cathy Baxter | Manager Green-Schools Programme

Cathy Baxter has worked in the environmental education field for over fifteen years. She is currently manager of the Green-Schools programme, Ireland's most successful environmental education programme, which operates in over 95% of schools. The programme provides a framework for schools to engage in positive actions towards sustainability.

Cathy is the Irish representative for the Eco-Schools programme internationally (it operates in 67 countries) and sits on the Advisory Council for Education for Sustainable Development. 

She is inspired daily by the hard work and commitment of students and teachers all over Ireland as they work on environmental issues.

Páiric Clerkin | CEO of IPPN

Páiric was educated in St. Vincent's CBS Primary and Secondary Schools, Glasnevin, and obtained his teaching degree from St. Patrick's College. His first teaching post was in St. Francis Xavier SNS, Dublin 15. In 2001, Páiric was appointed as the founding Principal of St. Patrick’s National School, Diswellstown in Dublin 15. He served initially as a teaching principal, and in 2003 became an administrative principal, following rapid expansion of the school.

In 2009, Páiric was elected to the IPPN Board of Directors, and was appointed Treasurer in 2015. During his tenure on the Board, Páiric initiated a pilot project to ascertain the feasibility of remote full-time administrative support for a cluster of teaching principals of small schools, which is currently being expanded. He has also contributed to IPPN publications and submissions to the DES and Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection on a number of topics. Páiric was appointed as CEO of IPPN in 2017.

Anya von Gosseln | Curator and co-founder KAMERA 8 gallery

Anya von Gosseln is a curator working in Ireland, and previously The United States and Germany. She is a former Board member and director of carriage trade gallery, a not-for-profit space in New York City, a former administrator of ROSC 84 in Dublin and a current member of the Visual Arts Committee Wexford Arts Centre.

From 1971-81 she was co-owner of De Gestlo Gallery Hamburg and Cologne (with steady representation at the Basel and Cologne art fairs since 1972). She operated art in progress gallery with her partner Gordon Campbell in Dublin from 1992-2000.

Anya has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Visual Artists Ireland VAI (2004-10) and was a founder of Printed Project, a magazine published by Visual Artists Ireland(VAI). She has, since 1987, worked on creating bridges culturally between Germany and Ireland and on occasion with the US. Anya is currently involved in a budding exchange program between the Rhineland and Ireland. In 2017 she became co-founder of KAMERA∞.

Ángel Luis González Fernández | founder & ceo of the photoireland foundation

Ángel Luis González Fernández is Founder and CEO of PhotoIreland Foundation, dedicated to stimulating a critical dialogue around Photography in Ireland and to internationally promoting the work of Irish-based artists. He won the David Manley Entrepreneur Award in 2011 for the PhotoIreland Festival project. In 2011, he launched 'The Library Project', a public resource library of photobooks, whose holdings are currently in excess of 2500 items from more than 250 publishers worldwide. 

The Library Project also gives name to a unique space in Dublin's Temple Bar, offering the library, an eclectic Art bookshop, and a productive gallery programme. He has been a portfolio reviewer at events such as Les Rencontres d'Arles, Format Derby, PhotoEspaña, and The Triennial of Photography Hamburg. He is responsible for books such as 'Martin Parr's Best Books of the Decade', New Irish Works, and the ongoing TLP Editions. He contributed to Landskrona Foto 2016, focused Photography in Ireland, and he is an invited lecturer at university programmes, such as the Fine Art Photography Master at IED Madrid. 

In 2019, he launched the public-facing project entitled 'The Museum of Contemporary Photography of Ireland' with its first instalment running 1-31 July as a 2000m2 exhibitions space, enquiring about Museums and Photography. The project will run every year during July as part of PhotoIreland Festival, eventually becoming a fully fledged museum space.

Mandy O’Neill | Visual Artist

Mandy O’Neill (1968) is an Irish Visual Artist, based in Dublin, Ireland. Her photographic practice encompasses a number of themes, including young people, education, community and the frameworks societies operate within. She has worked extensively with schools, community organisations and government bodies, with support from the Arts Council of Ireland.

She has an MA in Public Culture Studies from IADT Dublin and a BA in Photography from TU Dublin. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is held in public and private collections. She has been short-listed multiple times for the Hennessy and Julia Margaret Cameron awards and was the winner of the Zurich Portrait Prize 2018, at the National Gallery of Ireland.

She has recently completed Artist Residencies at Larkin Community College, Dublin 1 and The Digital Hub, Dublin 7. Mandy is currently working towards a solo exhibition in 2019 at the Gallery of Photography Ireland.

richard carr | artist & partnerships manager of inspa

For the past three years, Richard worked as a School Liaison to educational establishments who were home to over 25,000 students from preschool, through primary and secondary all the way to third level. In this role, he passionately worked towards increasing investment in education and in 2016 he founded Ireland's annual Parent Association Funds, which helped fund 10 creative projects across Ireland. He was invited to be the Cultural Ambassador for Co. Wexford (2018) as part of Ireland’s National Culture Night Programme and is an advocate for STEAM practices within education.

As a practicing artist, his first international solo exhibition took place last year at MOCA London on the invitation of its director; Michael Petry from the Royal Academy Schools. It was also selected by Culture Ireland to feature as part of its national GB18 programme of events. Recently, he was selected for the finalists’ exhibition for the Hotron Prize at VISUAL, Carlow and the F15 Festival in association with IMMA, Dublin. His work featured as part of Ireland’s National 1916 Centenary Programme and he was shortlisted for Ireland’s Emerging Visual Artist Award.

He holds an MFA from NCAD Dublin and a PGDip in Business in Cultural Event Management from IADT, Dun Laoghaire.