It was wonderful to hear our keynote speaker, Lone Scherfig, talk about her career last night. A particularly memorable moment was her anecdote about Paul Greengrass. Whenever she was having creative/budget issues with her producer on ‘Their Finest’ she would say something along the lines of – ‘If I was Paul Greengrass we wouldn’t be having this conversation’. It was said of course in jest. When the film was released she got a surprise email from a total stranger, none other than Paul Greengrass. He loved the film! It was heart warming to hear one great director reach out to another to congratulate them on their work. I’m still waiting for that email Paul. 😉 An excellent and revealing interview by Dearbhla Walsh.

A great deal of thanks needs to be given to our outgoing Chairman, Ciaran Donnelly, for all his work over the past eight years in promoting our cause. I hope his recent meetings with Dee Forbes, the Director General of RTE, does lead to a transformation in the way the broadcaster engages with directors, and other talent for that matter. Time will tell.

The role of Chairman has now passed on to Maurice Sweeney. The SDGI manifesto for the year ahead is ambitious. I wish him, the other board members and Birch Hamilton, our resilient and ebullient Executive Director, the best of luck in the year ahead.

Finally, I’d like to extend my deepest gratitude to the volunteers who give freely of their time to assist Birch in administering our Guild.