Ms Maureen Kennelly:

Yes, the contract which was for up to nine months was heavily conditioned and it was clear that it would be a final contract. The board made a strong business case to the Department in December 2024 for a renewal of my five-year term, which is normative across the cultural sector and certainly for all of my predecessors in the Arts Council. The Minister did not approve it. Subsequently, the board asked him to defer the decision on the renewal until the findings of the Brennan report were completed. Unfortunately, he also refused that and the Department said that there was no mechanism to defer such a decision. On the back of that, the Department then offered me a very heavily conditioned, up to nine months' term, during which the recruitment for my successor would take place. In fact, it was clear that it might not even be a nine-month term and I felt that it was unacceptable.