Professor Declan McGonagle
Doctor of Letters

Professor Declan McGonagle has made a major contribution to the development of art curation, in particular Irish art and the contemporary arts responding to social issues.

Declan began his career working and exhibiting, having graduated from the College of Art and Design, Belfast before being appointed the first organiser of the Orchard Gallery in Derry in 1978. The gallery was known for bringing the work of international artists to the city. He was the first Director of the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin. He subsequently took over as director of the City Arts Centre in Dublin.

Declan was the first curator to be shortlisted for the Turner Prize. He has served on the jury of the Turner Prize and other national and international awards and has been an external examiner in a number of UK institutions. In 2006 he was chairman of the panel of judges for the Irish American Arts Awards.

He speaks and writes regularly on the relationships between art, the artist, the institution and communities and has served on many boards and Irish government cultural bodies. Declan became director of the National College of Art and Design Dublin in 2008. He is also chair of the Liverpool Biennial.