The chair of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland will not be reappointed to the position when his current term ends next week, the Irish News has learned.
Liam Hannaway, who was appointed to the role in 2021 by former Stormont communities minister, Sinn Féin’s Deirdre Hargey, is understood to be the only member of the Arts Council’s board not set to be returned for another term.
Reappointments to the board are expected to be announced by the current communities minister, the DUP’s Gordon Lyons, before January 31.
They include the current vice-chair and former DUP mayor of Lisburn and Castlereagh William Leathem.
The chair and vice-chair were appointed in January 2021 for a four year term along with five other board members.
Before his appointment as chair, Mr Hannaway had served as an Arts Council board member since the previous July.
A source has confirmed Mr Hannaway will not be reappointed to the role as head of the board that oversees the Arts Council, which plays a “key role to play in developing and improving the knowledge, appreciation and practice of the arts, and increasing public access to and participation in the arts”.
The source said Mr Hannaway said there was “widespread shock” within the arts community about a decision that appears “potentially political”.
“Liam is a genuine lover of the arts, and a robust, experienced and effective negotiator in their favour,” they said.
“It’s a shocking revelation to the sector that he won’t be continuing in his role, at a time when the arts budgets in NI are continually cut by the executive, and when they would benefit most from strong and constructive advocacy.
“It feels like a poorly motivated and arbitrary decision, rather than one based on merit and performance.”
Mr Hannaway was previously the chief executive of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, taking on the role in 2014 and overseeing its creation through the amalgamation of the former Newry and Mourne District Council, and Down District Council.
His biography on the Arts Council website describes him as someone with a “long history of interest and involvement in the Arts: in a voluntary capacity as an actor and director with Lislea Dramatic Players and as a former Chair of the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland for Ulster”.
The Arts Council NI declined to comment, and the Irish News approached the Department for Communities for a response.
