Anna Healy

Anna Healy will step into the position of ‘actor’ director, as set out in the Abbey’s articles of association. She will replace Noelle Brown who vacated the position in February this year, when she was nominated to Dublin City Council.

Anna is an award-winning actress with a distinguished career spanning 35 years, including Abbey Stage productions at the Abbey Theatre (Dancing at Lughnasa, Marriage of Figaro, Mrs Warren’s Profession, The Wake, Portia Coughlan, Fall of the Second Republic, and Audrey or Sorrow), the Gate Theatre (Jane Eyre, The Breadman, The Threepenny Opera, The Cherry Orchard, The Last Return), the Gaiety Theatre (The Seagull, The Ferryman), and in London’s Globe (Richard III, The Taming of the Shrew, The White Devil), the NT and West End (Hinterland, Peer Gynt, Abingdon Square, Juno and the Paycock). In recent years, Anna has toured internationally and nationally with the wonderful Druid Theatre Company – in the critically acclaimed O’Casey Trilogy, winning an Irish Times award for her performance in Druid’s production of The Last Return and many more.

She is deeply committed to and proud of the Abbey Theatre and its place in Ireland’s cultural past, present and future. In her artistic lifetime she has been lucky enough to work directly with some of Ireland’s finest writers: Frank McGuinness, Tom Murphy, Marina Carr, Brian Friel, Sonya Kelly, Michael West, Sebastian Barry and others. With a particular interest in emerging voices, new writers, performers and new audiences – Anna is passionate about artistic innovation, experimentation and broadening cultural participation – reaching the community and new audiences through education, touring and targeted workshops.

She has also successfully run a retail business in London, bringing a creative and entrepreneurial energy to all her work.

Anna is currently performing in Escaped Alone by Caryl Churchill at Project Arts Centre and has a busy schedule of productions ahead in 2025.

Tara Furlong

Tara Furlong is the staff director on the Board, replacing Abbey Theatre Archivist, Mairéad Delaney.

Tara began her career in the arts after studying ceramics at Dun Laoghaire College of Art & Design (now IADT). She then joined the front of house department at Project Arts Centre, where she was first introduced to Stage Management while working on The Gay Detective by Gerard Stembridge. From 1996 to 2006, Tara worked as a freelance Stage Manager with a range of Dublin theatre companies including Fishamble, Corn Exchange and The Gate. 

In 2006, Tara joined the Abbey Theatre’s Stage Management department, where she has worked ever since, except for a year in 2007 when she served as company manager at Gúna Nua Theatre Company. Tara has been involved in many significant Abbey productions over the years, including The Wake by Tom Murphy, Alice in Funderland by Philip McMahon and Raymond Scannell, and Girl on an Altar by Marina Carr.

Outside her work in Stage Management, Tara has contributed to the theatre community through serving on the board of the Association of Irish Stage Technicians from 2006 to 2008 and acting as a SIPTU representative from 2019 to 2021.

Tara’s connection to the Abbey Theatre is deeply rooted in family history. Her uncles, Brendan and Brian Behan, both have had their plays produced on Abbey stages, while her great uncle, Peadar Kearney, worked as a scenic artist at the Abbey from 1908 to 1916.

Vincent Harrison

Vincent Harrison replaces Michael Wall who stepped down last year. Vincent is Chief Commercial & Development Officer of daa, having previously held the position of Managing Director of Dublin Airport.

Vincent qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Anderson in Dublin Prior to joining daa. Vincent held senior financial and management positions with Esat/British Telecom in Ireland with Rubbermaid Inc. in USA and in Europe.

He holds an MBA degree from University of Pittsburgh, USA and a B.Comm degree from University College Cork and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland.

Vincent served as the 133rd President of Dublin Chamber in 2022 and as a member of the Council and Board of Dublin Chamber between 2015 and 2023. He is currently a member of the board of Chambers Ireland.