MAY/JUNE 1979
NEWSLETTER
CRAFTS COUNCIL OF IRELAND. Thomas Prior House, Merrion Road, Balisbridge, Dublin 4 Telephone 01 680764
Annual General New Chairman for Crafts Council Meeting Mrs. Patsy Duignan was elected Chairman of Crafts Council of Ireland at the first Management Committee meeting after the Annual General Meeting.
The second Annual General Meeting of Crafts Council of Ireland Limited was held on 25th April at Thomas Prior House, Dublin 4.
Mrs. Duignan is well known in the crafts world, being herself a craftswoman in a number of the traditional native skills, and Chairman of Slieve Bawn Co operative Handcraft Markets Limited for some years. Mrs. Duignan is also a member of the Art and Design Studies Board of the NCEA and a long standing member of both the Irish Country women's Association and Country Markets.
The Chairman, Mr. James Warwick, introducing the Annual Report, drew attention to a number of specific achievements during the year 1978, in particular the enlargement of the successful National Crafts Trade Fair and the Wexford Conference which had been such an inspiration. He referred also to other work of the Council, such as the crafts educational research project, the report of which would be published shortly, and the new book for craftsmen setting up their own business, as well as the many other activities for the year reported. Both the Annual Report and the Income and Expenditure Account and Balance Sheet were adopted after brief discussion.
New Studio Glass Workshop It is not a secret any longer that Kieth Ledbetter's workshop at Jerpoint will be in operation in the next few months. This will be the second studio glass work shop in Ireland, Simon Pearce's, of course, being the original. It is good news to see this part of the crafts scene beginning to grow, and the fact that Kieth Ledbetter is visiting tutor to the National College of Art and Design, Glass Department, is an encouraging factor for those students studying studio glass. We hope to have photo graphs of designs from the new work shop in a future issue of the Newsletter.
New Management Commi t te Members At the Annual General Meeting the following were declared elected to fill the vacancies caused by non-statuto'y retirements: Mrs. Alison Erridge of Ballycar Design, Newmarket-on-Fergus, who is a member of Clare Craftwor ker s Association and is herself a skilled teacher and craft worker; Miss Angela O'Brien, who has for a number of years been Secretary of the Irish Society for Design and Craftwork and has previously been a member of the Committee; Mr. John Donovan who was, until his retirement, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Industry, Commerce and Energy and is a member of the Board of SFADCO; Mr. Dermot Stokes, Chairman of Wicklow Craftworkers Association, who is also a craftsman in copper. The composition of the Management Committee now includes three full time craftworkers, three whose full time involvement is with crafts, two educationalists, and seven who could more accurately be described as administrators with an involvement in the crafts sector.
As an innovation, representatives of the various member organisations reported on their activities during the year, some of which have already been reported in the Newsletter.
Mr. John Verling, Cork Craftsman's Guild
The full membership of the Management Committee is now as follows:
Mr. Tom Broderick, Country Development Officers Association
Mr. James Warwick
Mrs. Patsy Duignan, Slieve Bawn Cooperative Handcraft Market Limited
Miss Betty Searson, Royal Dublin Society Miss Blanaid Reddin, Bord Failte Miss Cecil O'Donohue, National College of Art and Design
Mr. Tom Sheedy, Bunratty Castle and Folk Park
Mr. Dermot Stokes, Wicklow Craftworkers Association
Mr. Tony Courtney, Coras Trachtala
Mrs. Alison Erridge, Clare Craftworkers Association
Miss Mary Coleman, Country Markets
Mr. John Donovan
Mr. Gerald Tyler, Kilkenny Design Workshops
Miss Angela O'Brien, Irish Society for Design and Craftwork