New appointments to the Abbey Theatre Board of Directors

New appointments to the Abbey Theatre Board
of Directors
Monday, 13 th February 2012 – The Abbey Theatre is delighted to
announce the appointment of three new members, Paul Davis,
James Mc Nally and Mark Ryan, to the Board of Directors of the
Abbey Theatre. The appointments were made as a result of three
vacancies which had arisen due to recent retirements from the
board.
Paul Davis and James Mc Nally were appointed by Jimmy
Deenihan, T.D. Minister for the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
Mark Ryan, was appointed by the Board on a recommendation
from the Selection Committee which is made up of Dr. Bryan
McMahon, Abbey Theatre Chairman, Pat Moylan, Chair of the
Arts Council and John Farleigh, Honorary Director of the Stewart
Parker Trust.
‘We are delighted with the new appointments of Paul Davis,
James Mc Nally and Mark Ryan to the board of the Abbey
Theatre. The Abbey will benefit greatly from their vast knowledge
and insights across a range of business areas. Their skills and
expertise will ensure that the Abbey Theatre continues to operate
effectively and efficiently in what is an interesting and challenging
time for the Abbey Theatre and the arts in Ireland’, said Dr.
Bryan McMahon, Chairman of the Abbey Theatre.
Paul Davis is Managing Director of the award-winning event
management company, Davis Events, James Mc Nally is a
partner in the Tax & Legal Services practice with
PricewaterhouseCoopers and Mark Ryan is Country Managing
Director of Accenture Ireland.
The current Board of Directors of the Abbey Theatre includes Dr.
Bryan McMahon (Chairman), Jane Brennan, Paul Davis,

Moya Doherty, John Finnegan, Róise Goan, Thomas
Kilroy, James Mc Nally, Maurice O’Connell and Mark Ryan.
The Abbey Theatre Chairman, Dr. Bryan McMahon was reappointed
by the Minister for a second term on Tuesday 25 th
January 2011 for a five year period.
The Abbey Theatre acknowledges the financial support of the Arts
Council.
For further information please contact:
David McCadden, Press Officer
david.mccadden@abbeytheatre.ie / (01) 887 2229
Maura Campbell, Press and Marketing Assistant
maura.campbell@abbeytheatre.ie / (01) 879 7268
Notes to Editors:
Paul Davis, Managing Director of Davis Events
Paul Davis is a graduate of University College Dublin. Paul is
founder of Davis Events, an award winning company that organises
and manages cultural and arts festivals and events. Davis Events
recently oversaw the development and roll out of Dublin Culture
Trail, a smart phone app and website that virtually connects some of
Dublin’s finest cultural and visitor attractions.
Paul is currently Festival Director of NYE Dublin – Dublin’s New
Year Festival. The inaugural festival took place from 30 th December
2011 – 1 st January 2012 and saw over 10,000 people attend an
outdoor celebration at College Green, Dublin on New Years Eve and
30,000 people attend the three-day festival.
After a term as Entertainments Officer at UCD, Paul worked in San
Francisco, returning to run USI’s flagship venue in Temple Bar.
From here Paul managed several music and arts venues, worked in
artist management and recording and moved on to establish and
manage a number of music and cultural festivals.

James Mc Nally, Partner in the Tax & Legal Services
practice, PricewaterhouseCoopers
James Mc Nally specialises in Company Administration and
Outsourcing Services, encompassing payroll processing and
consulting, company secretarial, share schemes, accounting
solutions, and management support functional effectiveness.
James also has extensive tax experience, focussing on advising
Pharmaceutical companies on domestic and international tax
planning and structuring, value chain transformation, R&D, and
intellectual property.
Mark Ryan, Country Managing Director, Accenture
Ireland
Appointed Country Managing Director (CMD) of Accenture in
Ireland in 2005, Mark Ryan has spent his career with Accenture in
Ireland, the US and UK. He joined Accenture as a graduate of
Trinity College Dublin in 1982. Previous to being appointed CMD he
was Head of Accenture’s Financial Services Practice in Ireland.
During his career with Accenture Mark has spent extended periods
working in both the United States and in the UK. He has worked
extensively across both the Private & Public Sectors. During this
time, he played numerous management and executive roles in
delivering major Strategy, IT & Business Change programmes for
some of Accenture’s most important clients locally and
internationally.
He has extensive knowledge of Business Strategy, Financial
Services, Organisational Change Management, Process Reengineering,
Outsourcing and Technology. He is a member of the
Accenture UK & Ireland Executive Management Team. As the CMD
for Ireland he is also a member of the Geographic Council Group for
Accenture Globally.
He was a member of the Board of Directors of the National Concert
Hall from 2006-2011. During this period he was on both the Audit
Committee and Strategy Committee. He was President of the Trinity

College Business Alumni from 2008-2010. He also sits on an
Advisory Group for Trinity College Dublin helping them focus on
their “Engagement with Society” for their 2014 Strategy.