Our People

Richard Dixon (Chair)
Director of Draíocht’s Board since November 2019
Richard Dixon was an early volunteer with the community radio station Phoenix FM (which served Dublin 15 in the late 1980s) and Anna Livia FM (a special interest radio station serving Dublin) and those experiences gave him a real taste for the incredible strength when community action and art combine. In 2018, he was a host for Draíocht’s Home Theatre Ireland initiative and greatly enjoyed the experience (and was overwhelmed by the skill shown by the artists in making the event possible). Richard worked for Concern, the international aid organisation, for almost 30 years, mainly in the area of fundraising and communications, before joining the public sector in early 2021. He has regularly spoken at conferences and on the media about charity regulation, transparency and accountability. He served on the boards of ICTR and Charities Institute Ireland, two representative bodies for Irish charities. He lives in Hollystown with his wife and three daughters. He is a true believer in Roald Dahl’s comment – those who don’t believe in magic will never find it!

Carys D. Coburn
Director of Draíocht’s Board since November 2021
Carys D. Coburn is a theatre maker/writer, performance poet and facilitator. They have worked with us on Home Theatre (Ireland) 2018 and on the 2019 Our Place, Our Stories project. They are the Artistic Director of Dublin Fringe Festival’s WEFT programme which supports artists from under represented communities in terms of their practice and infrastructural knowledge. Carys has had worked produced in the Abbey Theatre and is a key member of Malaprop theatre company. Their first plays were written for Dublin Youth Theatre; And Then He Was All in 2010 and Tarot in 2011, the first of which is available through NAYD’s Playshare programme. Their play Boys and Girls premiered as part of Dublin Fringe 2013, winning the Fishamble Best New Writing Award. It was also nominated for the Stewart Parker Trust Award, and for the Best Theatre Script Award at the Irish Writers’ Guild Awards (Zebbies). They are a collaborating writer with Malaprop Theatre, winners of the 2015 Spirit of Fringe Commission Award for Love+. They received an Arts Council 16x16 Emerging Artist's Bursary, as part of the 1916 Commemoration Programme and was awarded the Phelim Donlon Playwright’s Bursary & Residency in 2016. They were a participant in Six in the Attic, an Irish Theatre Institute initiative, from 2017 - 2018.

Shauna Harris
Director of Draíocht’s Board since September 2023
Shauna Harris (she/her) is a local biracial Irish-Jamaican actress, multidisciplinary performance artist, writer, and youth worker. Shauna has worked across both screen and theatre projects. Shauna is currently a 2023 Weft Studio Artist at Dublin Fringe Festival and last year performed in the award-winning Hot Brown Honey Production: Hive City Legacy Dublin Chapter at Dublin Fringe Festival 2022, which was awarded the Judges Choice Award and nominated for Best Ensemble. Shauna recently completed an artist residency at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris as one of this year’s (2023) Romilly Walton Masters Award recipients, working on a collaborative experimental theatre piece. Shauna has also spent the last few years working within youth spaces through volunteering, the arts, advocacy, and community engagement work. She currently works as a Global Citizenship Education Programme Officer at the Irish Girl Guides encouraging and empowering young girls and women to become active global citizens of the world by engaging with current social justice issues to promote awareness and equity. Shauna is passionate about social justice and artistic work that shares a message, encourages connectivity and reflection within society and advocates for intersectional representation within creative spaces. Shauna recently graduated from University College Dublin in 2023 with a BSc degree in Politics, International Relations, and Social Justice. She uses her active engagement in social equality research and youth work to inspire her creative projects to amplify the voices of those who are often underrepresented in society. Shauna believes that artwork has the power to reach diverse audiences and explain important complexed social justice issues in an accessible and expressive way. Shauna is delighted to have Draíocht as part of her local community and to be on the Board!

Jeff Murphy
Director of Draíocht’s Board since September 2023
Jeff Murphy spent 37 years working for the HSE in mental health services including community and addiction services, and was a member of the Psychiatric Nurses Association, on the local union committee and on the National Executive. He has 30 years of experience dealing with issues of local and national importance liaising between staff and management. Jeff was also a member of the Fingal Public Participation Network for three years working with community groups in the Fingal and Blanchardstown areas. Since retirement, Jeff has been involved with 92.5 Phoenix FM Community Radio as a volunteer presenter covering issues relevant to Dublin 15 promoting equality, diversity and inclusion, particularly in the local community, regularly co-presenting on the D15 Today show which reports on community, local and national issues. He is currently a Board member of 92.5 Phoenix FM and also serves on the Board of CRAOL, the representative body for community radio in Ireland. Jeff has a keen interest in the arts and has been a member of Draíocht’s Friend Scheme for many years. He recognises the important part the arts play in developing local communities and is looking forward to bringing his experience and enthusiasm for the arts to his role on Draíocht’s Board.

Maureen Penrose
Director of Draíocht’s Board since November 2019.
Maureen has lived in Sheepmoor for the past 40 years. She has always been active in the local community in both a voluntary and a paid capacity. She worked for many years with traveller children. For the past 20 years, up to retirement, Maureen worked in Community Drugs / Addiction Services. She has been involved with many community projects and is currently a Board Member at the Neighbourhood Youth Project, the Dublin 15 Community Drugs Team, Blanchardstown Centre for Independent Living and the Local Drug and Alcohol Task Force. She was Secretary of the Blanchardstown Family Support Network and still is a Peer Group facilitator supporting families. She is Chairperson on the Board of Blanchardstown Community Training Centre. Maureen has four adult children, thirteen grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. She is passionate about community, inclusion, the Arts in all their forms, the underdog. Since her retirement, Maureen has completed the first year of her four-year degree in Drama and Theatre in Trinity College. She thinks Draíocht is well named. Magic!

Declan Power
Director of Draíocht’s Board since September 2023
Declan is a successful and experienced leader with a proven private sector record. He is a sales, marketing, and operations subject matter expert as well as a highly qualified program and project manager. As Fingal County Council Senior Executive Officer for Tourism & Cultural Development, Declan also brings a wealth of knowledge of the public sector and experience as a board member of a number of visitor attractions including Heritage Properties and Arts Centres.

Brigid Alice (Bee) Sparks
Director of Draíocht’s Board since September 2023
Bee Sparks (she/her) is Artistic Projects Manager at Dublin Fringe Festival since 2019. Bee is a programmer and producer, with a focus on supporting emerging artists to create bold, interdisciplinary and future focused work. She values radical kindness in her practise: with an emphasis on creating accessible, non-hierarchical working environments that champion unheard voices and value the collective alongside the individual. Prior to Fringe Bee was Programme and Participation Manager at Brighton Dome & Festival, having started there as Programming Coordinator, and Gilded Balloon, where she worked closely with artists bringing their work to Edinburgh Fringe. She has an MA and BA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia and has worked at various cultural organisations in Ireland, the UK and the US, working in each role to expand accessibility and support new voices.