Gerry O’Brien – President

Gerry O’Brien’s career now spans 5 decades having made his professional debut at the Gate theatre in 1970. He has worked on most of the stages in Ireland over the years appearing in productions of Shakespeare, Moliere, Yeats, O’Casey as well as Hugh Leonard, Neil Simon and Tom Murphy.

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Melissa Nolan – Vice-President

Melissa has over 15 years-experience in the Irish arts industry as an artist, theatre maker and producer. She holds an MA Performance Drama (UCD) and Dip. Arts Media & Entertainment Law (Law Society of Ireland). [Read more…]

Ann Russell (Trustee)

Ann Russell has worked in the industry for 30+ years as an actor, director and teacher. She trained with the late Deirdre O’Connell at the Focus Stanislavski Studio at the Lee Strasberg Institute in NYC. She has an MA in Modern Drama from UCD and a teaching diploma from London College. [Read more…]

Brían Ó Súilleabháin – Youth member

Brían Ó Súilleabháin is a graduate of the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama and has a First Class Honours BA in Drama Performance. He has trained at both the Gaiety School of Acting and Bow Street Academy.  As an actor he has toured theatres across Ireland, Belgium, France, and Luxembourg, performing in productions of Shakespeare, children’s theatre and contemporary Irish drama. He is a native Irish speaker, avid cyclist and an accomplished trombone player. As a new member of Equity, he hopes to serve as a strong voice for the concerns of young actors and performers.

John Cronin

John Cronin has been an actor on stage and screen in Ireland for 30 years, having made his professional debut in The Commitments at the age of 12! Since that time John has built a theatre career that has taken him to the West End, the Edinburgh festival and to America via the Gate and the Abbey. He has worked for Livin’ Dred, Prime Cut, Loose Canon, Anu Productions, Theatre Club, Collapsing Horse, Second Age and Rough Magic and is due to appear in the latter’s Dublin Theatre Festival production of GLUE in October 2021. He also has an extensive career on screen in Ireland and beyond appearing in series for RTE, BBC and Sky as well as feature films with actors such as Jackie Chan and Hugo Weaving. Most recently he is to be found in Carrigstown playing the villainous Will Casey in Fair City. He also has a degree in English and History from UCD and a Diploma in Marketing and Advertising from the Fitzwilliam Institute. John is very pleased to be joining the Equity Executive at such an important time.

Dorothy Grace Laity

While pantomime and comedy are her specialist areas and first love, Dorothy has also performed in a wide variety of other disciplines at home and abroad. Highlights have included playing as Colin in Mother Goose, Hermia & Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Griffon in Alice the Musical and Yvette in ‘Allo, ‘Allo. [Read more…]

John O’Brien

John O’Brien has 60 shows to his credit as director and has been an Equity member for many years. Following the economic crash in 2008 he took a Masters Degree in Business and Management and completed a dissertation on the economy of the Irish Culture sector. Part of the research involved a survey of actor income from film and TV (including royalty payments) over a ten-year period.

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Colm O’Brien

Colm is a Dublin based actor, he trained at Drama Centre London and Bow Street, Dublin.

Colm believes in, and endeavours to develop, an industry that is fair, open and vibrant. Where artists and arts workers are properly remunerated, respected and treated. Colm firmly believes in increased funding for the arts.

Colm’s credits include: The Rivals (Smock Alley Theatre), The Crown and the Red Cross (Dublin Castle), Deeds of Deceit (Speckintime), The Poor Little Boy With No Arms (One Duck), King Lear (Second Age), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Mouth on Fire), Vikings Season 3, The Last Right (Feature Film).

He is a member of Theatre Forum.