IDI held its 49th annual general meeting on Tuesday 15th November, where IDI president Dominic Southgate handed the reins to board director Mary Doherty, founder of Red Dog. Mary’s nomination for president was ratified by a vast majority present.

Speaking about her new role as President of the IDI ahead of the IDI ReJOYce exhibition opening as part of Design Week Ireland and IDI 50-years anniversary celebrations JOY, Mary said:

“I’m delighted to take up the role as president of the IDI at such an important milestone for the organisation. Over the past 50 years, the IDI has supported thousands of designers in Ireland, and our public exhibition, ReJOYce, is an opportunity to showcase the breadth of quality design in Ireland. A mark of good design is that often, you barely notice it, and the people and businesses behind good design also tend to stay in the background. Our 50th anniversary is an opportunity to turn up the dial, amplify the role of design in everyone’s lives, and to also amplify the voice of Irish designers."

We would like to extend our thanks to Dominic who has been a fantastic president for a full 2 year term, working closely with the CEO to stabilise the entity and also continuing to work on the graduate design awards. He also took on the chair position for the Design Skillnet steering group, ensuring close workings between the IDI and the Design Skillnet. Dominic’s company, Boxclever designed and supplied the IDI awards’ and graduate awards’ trophies, and his support will remain as he retains the role of treasurer.

The IDI also said a fond farewell to Kim Mackenzie Doyle, former president and long standing board director, who has completed her term. Kim is responsible for a huge amount of IDI activity and leaves a strong legacy of programmes such as Mind over Matter and WhyDesign. Kim will continue to work with IDI in promoting creativity through The B!G Idea and we wish her every success. 

 

Two new IDI board directors were officially ratified at the AGM, Dr Kevin Dowd of TransferGo and John Lynch of Context Studio.

Full 49th AGM minutes now available to read.