This article is from page 5 of the 2006-02-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 5 JPG
LISDOONVARNA woman Shelley McNamara made history this week by becoming the first ever architect allowed to join Aosdána, a group made up of Ireland’s leading artists.
The organisation, which was founded by Charley Haughey in 1981 with Samuel Beckett as it’s first member, has recently opened its ranks to architects and choreographers. Ms McNamara is the first from either discipline to be granted membership.
Aosdána boasts some of Irelands leading artists, with the likes of Colm Tobin, Neil Jordan and Noble Laureate, Seamus Heaney, among its membership. Ms McNamara’s appointment is a major milestone for the group and has raised a number of eyebrows in the artistic community.
“It is the first time that architects have been considered for Aosdána and I would imagine that I am the first of many,” Miss McNamara told The Clare People.
While she is delighted with her appointment, she pointed to a numbers of problems that have to be addressed in the planning process in Ireland at the moment.
“I think that there are a lot of problems, mainly the fact that new developments don’t always consolidate within an area,” she said. “It’s not always to do with the architect, it’s about the planners as well. We all have to take responsibility for tackling the problem.”
Born in Lisdoonvarna, Miss McNamara attended UCD before establishing Grafton Architects with Yvonne Farrell in 1977.