Presenter
Dermot McLaughlin, CEO, Temple Bar Cultural Trust Ltd [TBCT]
Born in Derry in 1961, Dermot has been based in Dublin since 1979. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, where he was a Foundation Scholar, with a first class honours BA in Early & Modern Irish and in 2001 was awarded a M.Sc. (Mgmt) in Organisational Behaviour. Before joining TBCT, Dermot was an Assistant Director of the Arts Council, responsible for grants, human resources and general planning and management. His career with the Arts Council began in 1986 when he was appointed Traditional Music Officer, a post first held by Paddy Glackin.
Since his appointment as Chief Executive of Temple Bar Cultural Trust (formerly Temple Bar Properties) in January 2003 Dermot has been responsible for the transformation of the company from a property developer to a cultural development organisation. Managing a staff of 14 and an annual budget of ¤2 million, Dermot is responsible for organising over 300 free outdoor events annually and for providing subsidised high quality accommodation and workspace for artists and arts organisations. Under Dermot's leadership, TBCT has become established as a cultural projects management agency and has managed a number of transnational cultural projects as well as a national action research project on touring for the Arts Council.
Dermot is well known as a traditional musician, producer, broadcaster and writer. As a fiddle player he is well known as an exponent of Donegal music and has been actively involved in promoting this music for nearly 30 years. He has toured and performed as a soloist throughout Ireland and in Scotland, Shetland, England, Italy, Germany, Cape Breton, and the USA. He has also performed as guest with Altan and The Boys of the Lough, and regularly performs with players of the calibre of Breanndán Ó Beaglaoich and Robbie Hannan. In 2006, Dermot and Robbie began 'The Slow Tour' which is expected to continue around Ireland and into mainland Europe until at least 2025.
Dermot has also been involved in broadcasting. He co-wrote with Nuala O'Connor and presented two series of The Raw Bar on RTÉ television and a third series is schedule for transmission later this year. Other activities include record production and since 1987 Dermot has produced a number of albums for Claddagh records including: The Brass Fiddle, Dog Big Dog Little (music and song from Fermanagh), The Drones & The Chanters vol 2, Robbie Hannan's first solo album, The Road to Glenlough by Glencolmcille fiddler James Byrne. More recently Dermot produced with Rab Cherry a CD of the fiddle music of Con Cassidy for Cairdeas na bhFidiléirí. He is a director of a number of high profile cultural organisations including Dublin International Dance Festival (Chairman) ,Irish Traditional Music Archive (director), the Irish Architecture Foundation (director), Cairdeas na bhFidiléirí (director) and since 2005 has been External Examiner for the MA programme in traditional music performance at the University of Limerick. He is a regular contributor to the Journal of Music in Ireland.
