Age & Opportunity Arts is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2026 Artist Awards.
Commenting on the announcement, Arts Programme Manager Dr. Tara Byrne said:
“We hope that these awards provide the practical support needed by artists of 50+ and at the same time advocate for life-long creativity and the potential and commitment of artists in Ireland.”
Professional Development Award
This award aims to offer support for an artist to undertake professional development opportunities.
The Professional Development Awards have been awarded to Anna Newell and Siân Quill.
Professional Development Award Recipient Biographies
Anna Newell has been making theatre adventures for people of all ages to watch and to take part in since 1989. Human connection is at the very heart of her work, having created the world’s first Baby Day, introduced home-grown theatre for children and young people with PMLD (Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties) into Ireland and helped start baby theatre in South Africa. In 2020, she set up The Network for Extraordinary Audiences. She was one of just 11 finalists globally for the international Ellen Stewart Award for theatre makers whose practice has a strong social impact with a focus on young people. She was a recipient of one of the inaugural Tonic Theatre Awards for ‘game-changing women who are re-defining theatre and the performing arts.’ She is a National Finalist for the 2025 Lottery Good Causes Award. Anna is based in Bray, Ireland.
On receiving the Professional Development Award, Anna Newell says: “I’m delighted to have been awarded this bursary by Age & Opportunity. As an artist who has been creating work since 1989, it’s great to have the chance to take a break from making work and touring and instead immerse myself in work created by others. This bursary enables me to travel to the amazing El Petit Festival for Early Years in Catalonia. I’m particularly excited to connect up with Animal Religion, a fabulous company from Catalonia whose work I saw at WeeFestival in Toronto when I was presenting work there earlier this year.”
Siân Quill’s career originally began as an actor and she performed in plays all over Ireland: The Peacock Theatre, Andrews Lane Theatre, Project Arts Centre, The City Arts Centre, Blue Raincoat Theatre Company in Sligo, Island Theatre Company in Limerick and Red Kettle Theatre Company in Waterford. She was a founder member of the women’s theatre company, Glasshouse Productions. After completing a master’s in journalism, Siân started writing for television. She is proud to be one of the scriptwriters on RTE’s long-running drama, Fair City. She also writes for children’s TV, most recently for Cartoon Saloon’s animated show, Silly Sundays. Siân writes fiction and poetry for adults and children. She is currently writing a stage play, Soap Sisters. Her play will have a rehearsed reading in the Mermaid Arts Centre in December 2026. Siân lives in Bray, Co Wicklow.
Siân Quill says: “I am delighted to be selected for this Professional Development Award 2026 from Age & Opportunity. This bursary allows me to do a brand new course: ‘The Art of Screen Acting for Mature Actors’ at Bow Street Academy, Dublin. How exciting! When I was acting in my twenties, I worked in theatre but didn’t get much of a chance to act for screen. As a performer, I have so much to learn about contemporary screen acting methods. As a screenwriter and playwright, I know it will enrich my writing process so much. The play I am currently writing ‘Soap Sisters’ is character-driven and I had the pleasure to work with three actors and a dramaturg in a workshop situation and it is such a creative, rewarding experience. I feel this course will benefit me hugely both from an acting and a writing perspective. Thank you so much for this opportunity.”
Creative Ageing Writing Bursary
The Creative Ageing Writing Bursary (established in 2021) supports a writer, artist, or arts worker to reflect on the relationship between the arts and ageing in Ireland.
The Creative Ageing Writing Bursaries have been awarded to Darren Donoghue and Áine Phillips.
Creative Ageing Bursary Recipient Biographies
Darren Donoghue is an award-winning playwright, poet, screenwriter and theatre director originally from Newbridge, now based in Co. Carlow. Donoghue’s plays have been produced and developed by organisations including the Abbey Theatre, Irish Repertory Theatre (NYC), Keegan Theatre (Washington D.C.), Piccolo Teatro (Milan), Bread & Roses Theatre (London), Rough Magic, Fishamble. His poetry has been published in Poetry Ireland Review, Banshee, Cyphers, Irish Times, Sunday Independent, Strokestown Poetry Anthology, Dedalus Press, Oxford Review, Honest Ulsterman, RTE Culture website and Books Ireland. He received the Dennis O’Driscoll Literary Award, 2020. His debut poetry collection titled, Secret Poets is published by Turas Press. Donoghue was writer-in-residence at Carlow College, 2019 and the Science Gallery, Trinity College, 2020. Donoghue holds an M.A. from University College Dublin in Playwriting and Screen Writing.
Donoghue says “Receiving the Creative Ageing Writing Bursary from Age & Opportunity is both an honour and an affirmation. It will give me valuable time and space to reflect on how ageing and illness have shaped my life and creative practice. Most importantly, the award encourages me to transform personal experiences into writing that contributes to a wider conversation about creativity, care and ageing in Ireland.”
Áine Phillips is a visual artist and writer based in Galway. In her varied artistic practice, she makes performances, films and installations often working with communities and collaborators. Recent projects have included Domestic Bodies at The Linenhall Castlebar 2025 and Reflections: Decade of Centenaries Banners and performance commemorating women’s history in Ireland 1923 – 2023, commissioned by Galway City Arts Office, Libraries and Museum. In 2022 she exhibited Redress in the Robing Room at the CCI Paris as part of A Nation Under the Influence: Ireland at 100. She is a senior lecturer at Burren College of Art and Adjunct Faculty at Crawford College of Art MTU. Most of her writing is for academic contexts such as peer reviewed journals and her focus is contemporary art and performance. In 2015 she published Performance Art in Ireland: A History (Intellect Books and LADA London). Her work is supported and collected by the Arts Council of Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland.
On receiving the award, Áine Phillips says: “Winning the Creative Ageing Writing Bursary 2026 is a highlight in my artistic career. Writing has always been part of my art practice, and it is exciting to receive this award to develop a new piece examining the ‘imperative to change’ that women go through at menopause. I want to explore how it affects our artistic identities, practice and careers. I have always placed female experience at the centre of my work. In exploring what this new stage of life means I hope my writing resonates with older women creatives across the Irish arts sector. Thank you for this award, for supporting the relevance and centrality of older artists’ stories and keeping them at the heart of the cultural conversation.”
