Poet and solicitor Dr Muiris O Ceidigh has been appointed to the Heritage Council.
O Ceidigh, a governance expert, is currently a Governor of Belfast Metropolitan College, a member of the Property Services Appeals Board, and a director at the Irish Architectural Archive.
He holds a doctorate in governance from Queens University Belfast.
A former director at the Irish Architecture Foundation, he has also served as a director the Discovery Programme Board (archeology), the National Maritime Museum, the Hunt Muesum, and the the Irish Red Cross.
Currently, he is a member of the board of the Faculty of Pathology of the Royal College of Physician (lay) and holds a Masters in Forensic Medical Science from the University of Verona.
He recently completed, with a distinction, an LLM at Leeds Beckett University entitled Seals, Signatures and Questioned Documents – Where lies the Quest for Authenticity in the 21st Century?