Leading artists, Ruth McGinley, Richard O’Rawe, Derek Keilty, Ian Cumberland and Darragh Morgan, honoured with Major Awards by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland

The prestigious awards are given in recognition of the contribution each artist has made to creative life in Northern Ireland and makes it possible for them to undertake a substantial, ambitious project that will make a significant impact on the development of their professional, artistic careers.

Each of the artists will now use the award to develop a series of new works:

Pianist, Ruth McGinley, from Derry-Londonderry, will use the MIA funding to develop her third album, spending time in Reykjavik, Iceland and receiving mentorship in composition.

Visual artist, Ian Cumberland, from Co.Down, will use the MIA funding to realise an ambitious new interdisciplinary project that delves into themes of persuasion and perception. The MIA opportunity will enable the artist to push the boundaries of his practice, blending traditional techniques with emerging technologies like AI to craft immersive and thought-provoking works.

Author, Richard O’Rawe, from Belfast, will use the MIA funding to purchase time to research and write the third novel in his Ructions O'Hare series. Richard expects to visit locations in France, London and Dublin to bring authenticity to the scenes in his work.

Children’s writer, Derek Keilty, from Belfast, will use the MIA funding to write his first novel for adults. He will also use the MIA award towards a book tour in the USA to promote his work and his Ivy Newt children’s book series.

Violinist, Darragh Morgan, from Belfast, will use his MIA funding to develop an innovative high-quality recording of works for solo violin and the Ulster Orchestra. The recorded works will be by four living composers from Northern Ireland including, Brian Irvine, Frank Lyons, Bill Campbell and Ryan Molloy.

Gilly Campbell, Director of Arts Development, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said:

“Congratulations to Ruth McGinley, Richard O’Rawe, Derek Keilty, Ian Cumberland and Darragh Morgan, five immensely talented artists who have already made a significant contribution to the arts in Northern Ireland and beyond. Each artist will benefit greatly from being able to take time out to concentrate on new, ambitious, high-quality projects with the financial backing they need to produce work of lasting value. This game-changing award, made possible thanks to The National Lottery players, will help to cement their national and international reputations as artists, and strengthen the positive cultural profile of Northern Ireland, both at home and abroad.”

The five join a distinguished list of artists who have previously benefited from the Major Individual Artist awards, including writers; Susan McKay, Moyra Donaldson, Carol Moore, Rosemary Jenkinson, Malachi O’Doherty, Jimmy McAleavey, Alice McCullough, Anne Devlin, Carlo Gébler, Damian Gorman, Patricia Craig, Sinéad Morrissey, Glenn Patterson, Owen McCafferty, Jan Carson, Stephanie Conn, Gail McConnell and Shannon Sickles (Yee), performance artist, Sinéad O’Donnell, visual artists, Mairéad McClean, Jennifer Trouton, Rita Duffy, Susan MacWilliam, Sharon Kelly and Cara Murphy; composers, Deirdre Gribben, Greg Caffrey, Ed Bennett, Piers Hellawell, Ian Wilson, Elaine Agnew, Conor Mitchell, Neil Martin and Deirdre McKay; musicians, Michael McHale, Giselle Allen and David Lyttle plus choreographers, Oona Doherty and Eileen McClory, among others.

Major Individual Artist awards form part of the wider Support for the Individual Artist Programme (SIAP) which is supported with funding from The National Lottery and administered by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland annually. Visit www.artscouncil-ni.org/funding for information on all funding opportunities.

Artist biographies

Ruth McGinley: Derry-born Ruth McGinley had already gained widespread recognition as one of Ireland’s leading pianists by the age of 16, winning countless accolades including the piano final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year award. She performed as soloist with orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic, London Mozart Players, RTE Concert Orchestra and Ulster Orchestra.

After a long hiatus from performance, Ruth released her debut solo album ‘Reconnection’ to high acclaim in 2016. She was invited to perform as soloist at the BBC Proms in the Park to mark her return to the stage. Her most recent album, ‘Aura’, a collaboration with Belfast composer Neil Martin, is a Classical Reimagining of Irish Airs. Both of these albums were supported by The National Lottery through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

In recent years Ruth has performed as soloist at the NCH Dublin, Southbank Centre in London in the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Hall and at the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC.

But it is perhaps the spaces between where Ruth’s interests really lie. A determination to walk her own path, Ruth’s love of music goes far beyond the classical world. A highly sought-after collaborator, Ruth works with musicians from many backgrounds including jazz, folk, electronic and film music.

Richard O’Rawe: Richard O'Rawe is the author of six books, several of which are number one bestsellers, and have been nationally and internationally acclaimed. His books cross several genres. He has co-written his seventh book, a novel, with his daughter Bernadette. It is expected that this book will be published next year. He is looking forward to developing his third book in the Ructions O'Hare series. This book is guaranteed to have an intriguing plot line and many twists.

Among Richard O’Rawe’s six books are two works of creative non-fiction – Blanketmen: An Untold Story of the H-Block Hunger Strike (2005) and Afterlives: The Hunger Strike and The Secret Offer That Changed Irish History (2010) on both of which the consensus view is they are among the best books on their theme and indispensable accounts of our shared modern experience and culture in Ireland. In addition, In the Name of the Son: The Gerry Conlon Story (2017), the gripping account of one of the Guildford Four, and Stakeknife’s Dirty War (2023), on the notorious double-agent, helped define ways in which ex-combatants and victims can begin to unravel the complex legacy of decades of political violence. Two successful novels, Northern Heist (2018) and Goering’s Gold (2020), showed O’Rawe’s gift for character, narrative and vivid place-making and scene-setting could translate from semi-autobiographical to the semi-fictional and through to the world of the thriller.

O’Rawe craft has lit the way for personal memoir, autobiography and even historical research to show literary style with immediate social and cultural impact. All of his books have been praised, with Northern Heist and Goering’s Gold critically reviewed in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, amongst other prominent publications.

A stage play, In the Name of the Son, which he co-wrote, opened to full houses in both The Lyric, Belfast, and Grand Opera House Belfast in 2022. It also opened at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2022, again to acclaim. A Jewel for Ructions, the third instalment of the Ructions O'Hare trilogy, is to be published by Melville House in the US and another novel is currently with his agent.

Derek Keilty: Derek Keilty is a very successful and award-winning author whose many children’s books have been published in multiple languages all around the world. His work has all the touchstones – several brand-identifying characters and series, a very loyal and active publisher and a strong schools engagement practice supporting profile and sales. He has developed and grown a successful career with two leading publishers, Andersen and Scallywag, been prolific in production and clever in defining characters which have stood him in good stead as popular titles.

He has published 17 books for children, including successful ‘series’ novels with the beloved characters Will Gallows (the young elfling sky cowboy) who featured on the Richard & Judy Book Club, Ivy Newt (for 5+ and 7+, set in the fictional world of Miracula) and the young pirate Flyntlock Bones, whose debut in 2020 made the top 20 children’s books list in The Times for that year. Book one of Derek’s latest Ivy Newt quartet of children’s books, which sold to the US and Canada in June ‘24, is due for hardback release in April 2025. Lerner Publishing Group in Minneapolis and Spotlight PR in Nashville are keen to work with him in developing the transatlantic brand. Keilty is a pioneer of children’s writing in Northern Ireland, active for well over 20 years, and a new momentum the award provides both recognition and momentum.

Ian Cumberland: Ian Cumberland (b. 1983, County Down, Northern Ireland) earned his BA Hons in Fine and Applied Arts from the University of Ulster, Belfast, in 2006.

His practice includes painting and installation, beginning with the construction of sets where actors, props, and lighting are carefully staged to reflect an illusion of normality influenced by mass media. These scenes are photographed and translated into highly detailed paintings, which are then incorporated into immersive, multi-component tableaux within gallery spaces. By integrating painted works with sculptural and environmental elements, his installations explore the interplay between societal constructs and personal perception, inviting viewers to question the fragile boundaries between reality and fiction in a media-saturated world.

Notable solo exhibitions include ‘Presence in Absence’ at JD Malat Gallery, London (2020), ‘A Common Fiction’ at Josef Filipp Gallery, Leipzig (2019), and Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast (2018).

His work has been included in group exhibitions at the, National Portrait Gallery, London, National Gallery, Dublin, Museum European Modern Art, Barcelona Spain, Ulster museum and Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin.

Cumberland’s work is held in public and private collections both nationally and internationally, including G2 Kunsthalle (Leipzig, Germany), the Northern Ireland Civil Service Art Collection, the National Self Portrait Collection of Ireland, the OPW State Art Collection (Ireland), the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Belfast City Hall, Queen’s University, and the University of Ulster.

Darragh Morgan: ‘hugely impressive, he plays with seemingly effortless control’, The Strad Magazine. Belfast born violinist Darragh Morgan has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician at The Wigmore Hall, Aldeburgh Festival, Maerzmusik Berlin, Festival D'Automne à Paris, Luzern Festival, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, BBC Proms, Warsaw Autumn, Osterfestival Tirol, Bang on a Can Marathon New York, National Sawdust, Philips Collection Washington DC, Beijing Modern Music Festival and Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre.

He has performed concertos with National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Ulster Orchestra, Johannesburg Philharmonic, Istanbul Symphony and European Union Chamber Orchestra.

Darragh has been invited as Leader of London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Modern, Les Siecles, The Philharmonia, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group & Aurora Orchestra. He has recorded 75+ albums of chamber music, many of which have received Diaspon D'or and Gramophone Awards. Darragh has collaborated with renowned composers Arvo Pärt, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Michael Nyman, also diverse compositional voices as Scanner to Mira Calix, Shiva Feshareki to Gerald Barry and Donnacha Dennehy to John Tavener. He is violinist in the renowned Fidelio Trio and a former member of The Smith Quartet, performing chamber music with artists including Thomas Ades, John Tilbury and Emmanuel Pahud. Darragh plays an 1848 violin by Giuseppe Rocca and has a PhD in Music from University of Ulster.