Governance

Legal Status

C.A.F.E. Limited (trading as Create / Create Ireland, and formerly as Creative Activity For Everyone) is a company registered in Ireland, incorporated on 10 April 1987 as a company limited by guarantee, not having a share capital. The objects of the company are charitable in nature, the main object being to promote the arts as defined in the Arts Acts.

Charitable Status

In 1996, the company was granted charitable exemption by the Revenue Commissioners retrospective to the date of incorporation (CHY 9695). The company is exempted from Corporation Tax, Capital Gains Tax and Deposit Interest Retention Tax under Section 207, Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 and from Corporation Tax for certain trading activities under the same section.

The company is authorised by the Revenue Commissioners to operate the Donation Scheme for tax exempted donations to Charitable Bodies (Section 848A, Tax Consolidation Act, 1997).

The company is registered as a charity with the Charities Regulatory Authority (Reg. No: 20024291). By virtue of the Charities Act, 2009, the directors of the company are deemed to also be charity trustees.

Governance

The board and executive officers comply with the organisation’s Code of Conduct for Directors and Officers. The principles that underpin the general ethos of this code include:

• Loyalty
• Integrity
• Disclosure of Interests
• Confidentiality of Information
• Legal Obligations
• Board Operation
• Fairness
• Impartiality + Independence

The organisation is committed to compliance with the Charities Governance Code and has in place systems and processes to ensure that it achieves its charitable objectives with integrity and is managed in an effective, efficient, accountable and transparent way.

The organisation has adopted the Principles of Good Fund Raising as drawn up by the Irish Charities Tax Reform Group. Create is a signatory of the Safe to Create Code of Behaviour.

In keeping with the organisation’s Strategy, Connect Create Change, which recognises an intersectional approach to diversity by acknowledging how multiple forms of discrimination (e.g. gender, class, ethnicity, disability, age) can combine and overlap in the experiences of individuals and minority groups, the board is committed to diversifying its membership through regular audit and renewal

Management

The company has seven full-time and three part-time employees.

Board of Directors (Trustees)

Clodagh Kenny (Chair) (appointed 2015)

Clodagh Kenny is currently working as an independent Art Advisor, supporting companies with public art commissions and the development of their artistic policies. For over ten years she was director of Fire Station Artists’ Studios, a significant national visual arts organisation, supporting professional visual artists. Clodagh is also on the Programme Advisory Board of the Royal Hibernian Academy and on the board of Pallas Projects/Studios.

Frances Brennan (appointed 2023)

Frances Brennan, owner of the Tax Studio from 2010 – 2022 has many years’ experience acting for individuals in Ireland and internationally in the arts, film and entertainment world, having previously been the Tax Manager in a boutique accountancy practice in Dublin and London. She brings insight on the business front with a unique perspective on ‘the bigger picture’ to aid artists navigate the necessary paperwork, coaching them to keep an eye both on their talent and ambition together with making a living from their craft. She has assisted artists with various projects over the years including curating archives for The National Library and co-ordinating works for various grant and Revenue applications. She holds a diploma in Trust and Estate Planning and is an NLP life and business coach. She recently completed a diploma in Event Management with The Irish Academy of Public Relations.

Dr. Helen Burke (appointed 2020)

Helen Burke has over 20 years’ experience in research & organisational management and strategy implementation across industry and academia.  She engages with national and international funding agencies, companies and charities across multiple sectors including Arts, Humanities, Education, Engineering and Science.  Having worked in various universities and start-up companies, she has developed significant experience in strategy, policy formulation & implementation, operations & financial management and leadership.  She is passionate about collaboration, engagement and empowerment. She is currently Senior Research Officer in Dublin City University and is on the Steering Committee of the Centre for Engaged Research and the management team of PPI Ignite, which is focussed on embedding public involvement in research.  She is also a Director/Trustee of Sage Advocacy.

Liz Burns (appointed 2022)

Liz Burns is Arts Officer for Wexford County Council having taken up the role in 2016.  Previously she was the Arts Programme Manager for Fire Station Artist’s Studios in Dublin with a particular focus on socially engaged arts practice. She completed her MA in Visual Arts Practices with DIADT (2009-10) and developed an independent curatorial practice focusing on collaborative and public arts practice. Liz was Chair of Arts & Disability Ireland ( 2010 – 2016) and was Outreach Coordinator with Tallaght  Community Arts Centre( 2000 – 2002) . Liz originally studied Communications/Film in Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT). She joined the board of directors of the National Opera House in Wexford in 2020.

Hassina Kiboua (appointed 2021)

Hassina Kiboua currently works as a Refugee Resettlement Officer with the Irish Refugee Council. Her role is to provide information on rights, entitlements and obligations of resettled refugees in Ireland and assist them in accessing their rights, such as applications for family reunification, travel documents and visas. In conjunction with her work in the IRC, she is pursuing a PhD in Trinity College Dublin. Hassina is a qualified solicitor, she holds a Masters’ degree in International Law and an M-Phil in International Peace Studies from Trinity College Dublin. She recently completed an Advanced Diploma in Refugee and Immigration Law in the Honourable Society of Kings Inns and a Professional Diploma in Human Rights and Equality in the Institute of Public Administration (IPA).

Seanie Lambe (appointed 2020)

Seanie Lambe has lived all his life in the north Inner City of Dublin. He became active in local community projects in the late 1970’s and has been integral to many of the battles and campaigns in the area ever since, including the early anti-heroin campaigns of the 1980’s. Seeing the use of state funding as a mechanism to unleash creativity has been, since then, close to his heart. Such an approach is used in groups such as the SAOL Project for women in recovery, of which he is a founding member. He represented the local community for many years on the council of Dublin Docklands Development Authority, and remains an active member of a number of local and national organisations including Community Work Ireland, Inner City Organisation Network (ICON), SAOL, The Employment Network, and a number of Charitable Trusts dealing with education and housing.

Deirdre O’Mahony (appointed 2022)

Deirdre O’Mahony is a visual artist based in Ireland concerned with the political ecology of rural places. Her practice involves collaborative and socially engaged public projects, film, making and installation. Projects include Sustainment Experiments (2020 – 2023), Field Exchange, a Creative Ireland Climate project (2022), SPUD (2009 – 2019) and X-PO (2007 – ). She has received numerous awards, including Arts Council of Ireland bursaries, agility and project awards, the O’Malley Award, and a Pollock-Krasner Fellowship. Deirdre graduated with a BAFA (1979) St. Martin’s School of Art, London; MRes (2005) Crawford College, Cork and PhD (2012), University of Brighton.

Company Secretary: Damien McGlynn (interim)

Artists’ Pay Policy

It is Create policy that all artists and creative professionals we engage are properly remunerated for their work. Create is committed to transparent pay scales for artists and arts practitioners that work in collaborative practice and creative professionals involved in all types of artistic services. Our Pay Policy is available at the link to the right of this page.

Financial Statements

Financial Statements are presented in a format that complies with the requirements of the Companies Act, 2014, and accounting standards generally accepted in Ireland as giving a true and fair view as promulgated by Chartered Accountants Ireland and issued by the Financial Reporting Council including FRS 102. The Directors are committed to the implementation of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) as issued by the Charity Commission for England & Wales.

Safeguarding

We have carried out a risk assessment of any potential for harm to a child while availing of our services, and have put measures in place to mitigate against such risks. Please read our Protection and Welfare Policy Statement, which contains a risk assessment and safeguarding statement.