Eva Birthistle is an Irish actor, writer, and director based in London. Eva’s debut feature film as writer/director KATHLEEN IS HERE (2024) starred Hazel Doupe, Clare Dunne and Peter Coonan. It followed on from her proof of concept short KATHLEEN WAS HERE (2020). KATLEEN IS HERE had its world premiere at the Raindance Film Festival, and it opened in Ireland at the 2025 Galway Film Fleadh where Eva was the recipient of the Bingham Ray New Talent Award. That same year, the film received seven IFTA nominations. As a multi-award winning actress Eva’s 25-year career has seen her work with directors such as Ken Loach, John Crowley, Neil Jordan, and Dearbhla Walsh across projects such as AE FOND KISS, BROOKLYN, BREAKFAST ON PLUTO and BAD SISTERS. Next up for Eva is ROSE’S BABY where she stars opposite Antonio Banderas, and NO ORDINARY HEIST with Eanna Hardwick and Eddie Marsan. 

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Carole Cadwalladr is an award-winning journalist and podcaster (the journalist behind the Cambridge Analytica story). She wrote for the Guardian and was a feature writer for the Observer for twenty years. She is now an independent writer and among her projects, she writes a newsletter for SubStack ‘How to Survive the Broligarchy’ – with more than 65,000 subscribers. In 2025, she co-hosted a BBC podcast ‘Stalked’ which was a top 5 podcast on BBC sounds. As an investigative journalist, Carole was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for National Reporting in 2019, receiving praise upon her investigation and coverage into Cambridge Analytica and its role in Brexit. She was featured in the acclaimed Netflix documentary ‘The Great Hack‘ – this Bafta nominated film explored the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal, produced and directed by Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer.

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For more than 25 years, Lorna Ross has worked in strategic design research, at the intersection of design, science, technology and industry. She has held creative leadership positions in five innovation groups and is internationally recognised as an expert in her field. Over the course of her career, Lorna has worked across diverse sectors, including the military, education, and healthcare, always keeping the human experience at the forefront, and always striving to balance technological progress with the enduring human spirit at the core of every design.​​

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A twice Grammy nominated artist, Ó Lionáird has worked with a stellar cast of composers internationally including Donnacha Dennehy, Dan Trueman, Ludwig  Göransson, Nico Muhly, Kate Moore, Linda Buckley, Gemma Peacocke, Gavin Bryars,  and he has performed and recorded with such luminaries as Peter Gabriel, Nick Cave, Robert Plant, Colin Stetson and Sinead O’Connor. His unique singing style has carried him to stages and concert halls all over the world, from New York’s Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House, London’s Royal Albert Hall and beyond. His voice has graced the silver screen also with film credits extending from “The Gangs of New York” to “Hotel Rwanda” and most recently as featured vocalist in the film “Calvary” starring Brendan Gleeson, as featured singer in the film “Brooklyn” starring Saoirse Ronan and as vocalist, arranger and music consultant on the Ryan Coogler film “Sinners” (2025). He is co- founder and vocalist with the acclaimed Irish /American band “The Gloaming.​

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Discovery Gospel Choir is Ireland’s leading intercultural choir, blending gospel, folk, and world music. Representing diverse nationalities and singing in multiple languages, the choir shares songs of hope and joy. For this performance, a smaller ensemble will perform under the direction of Justine Nantale. Since its founding in 2004, Discovery has grown from a small community group to a renowned ensemble performing at major festivals, special events, and collaborations with leading artists. Most recent artists include: Westlife, Damien Dempsey, Moncrieff, Hot House Flowers, and more. Guided by the motto “Discovery: Beauty in Everyone,” the choir promotes inclusion, unity, and cultural celebration through the power of music.

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  Pea Din­neen is a play­wright, cabaret artist and lyri­cist based in Dublin. Much of her work dis­cusses trans­gen­der iden­tity in con­tem­po­rary Ireland. Pea's show Pea Dinneen: Raising Her Voice opened at Dublin Fringe festival 2025, where it won the Best Production award and received a five-star review from The Irish Times. She has been awarded both the Markievicz Award and the Next Gen­er­a­tion Artist Award by the Arts Coun­cil of Ireland.

As a facil­i­ta­tor, Pea led the Trans­form­ing Stages devel­op­ment pro­gramme with Out­burst Queer Arts Fes­ti­val, the first the­atre men­tor­ship programme on the island of Ire­land specif­i­cally for trans artists. As a cabaret artist, Pea is the co-founder of award-winning queer cabaret col­lec­tive EGG.

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Emer O’Neill is a TV presenter, author and activist passionate about inclusion, equity, neurodiversity, and women in sport. She uses her lived experience to spark honest conversations on identity, race and mental health. A former Irish international basketball player, Emer hosted RTÉ’s Exercise with Emer and Keep It Up, co-hosted The Today Show and presented the St. Patrick’s Festival live from Dublin. With a BA in Education and a Master’s in Educational Leadership, she spent 15 years teaching and now leads EDI workshops nationwide. A TEDx speaker and founding member of Bray for Love, she continues to advocate for belonging and representation. Her bestselling children’s book ‘The Same But Different’ encourages self-acceptance and diversity. A proud mother of three, Emer is driven by a simple mission, to create spaces where everyone feels seen, heard and valued.

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Róisín Ingle is a columnist, features writer and podcaster with The Irish Times. She is the author of two collections of her columns, Pieces of Me and Public Displays of Emotion, and is the co-author of The Daughterhood with Natasha Fennell, which has been published in several languages. She produces and co-presents the award-winning ‘Women’s Podcast’ on irishtimes.com. 

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Dr Abeba Birhane founded and leads the TCD AI Accountability Lab (AIAL). She received her PhD from UCD in 2022 and is currently an Assistant Professor (AI) at the School of Computer Science and Statistics in Trinity College Dublin. Her research focuses on AI accountability, with a particular focus on audits of AI models and training datasets – work for which she was featured in Wired UK and TIME on the TIME100 Most Influential People in AI list in 2023. Dr. Birhane also served on the United Nations Secretary-General’s AI Advisory Body and currently serves at the AI Advisory Council in Ireland. 

Trevor Dietz has been managing Fontaines DC for almost a decade. He first invited them to play at one of his Bank Holiday Sunday showcases at The Workmans in 2015 and the rest is history. Prior to stepping into his management role with Fontaines DC, Trev cut his teeth on the Dublin music scene from around 2001 with legendary clubnights such as Radiator, Trashed and Transmission while also running music venues such as Eamonn Dorans, The Hub, Garage Bar and The Workman's Club. 

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Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns was born and raised in Glasgow.  She began her career working as a runner before attending the Royal Scottish Conservatoire, and the National Film and Television School. 1917, which she co-wrote with director Sam Mendes earned Krysty an Academy Award and Writers Guild Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay. The film won a BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film,  and the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture. Other projects include, THE GOOD NURSE, starring Eddie Redmayne, Jessica Chastain. BAFTA-nominated, LAST NIGHT IN SOHO,  starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Thomasin McKenzie. In 2020, Krysty formed Great Company Entertainment to create high calibre entertainment and collaborate with top talent. Great Company has several projects in development, including an adaptation of the upcoming novel Kill Billionaire, by Anders Lustgarten, and a television project with Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap Entertainment and A24. 

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Sharon Mannion is a comedian and writer best known for her role as ‘Concepta’ in the RTE 2/UKTV hit comedy, ‘Bridget & Eamon’. She is resident host of The Comedy Cellar at the International Bar, the longest running comedy club in Ireland and is currently touring the country with her show 'Jukebox Donkey'

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David Keenan’s multifaceted artistry including three studio Albums, an Irish number 1 record, work for screen and published poetry makes him a singular figure in Music today. Widely regarded as one of the best lyric writers of his generation he has toured the world with his own unique style of song and performance as well as joining the likes of Hozier, David Gray, Counting Crows & Rodrigo y Gabriella as a special guest. The bilingual documentary film about his journey entitled ‘Focla ar Chanbhás’ or ‘Words on Canvas’ has screened at film festivals across North America and Europe as well as winning best in cinematography award at Doc’s Ireland in Belfast. His fourth album Modern Mythologies is due out in November 2025.

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Sinéad Gleeson’s essay collection Constellations: Reflections from Life won Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards and the Dalkey Literary Award for Emerging Writer. It was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Michel Déon Prize, and has been translated into several languages. She is the editor of four anthologies including The Art of the Glimpse and the award-winning The Long Gaze Back: An Anthology of Irish Women Writers, and The Glass Shore. Sinéad has engaged in collaborations with artists and musicians, with commissions
from The Wellcome Collection, the RHA, BBC, Rua Red Gallery and Frieze. She is co-editor with Kim Gordon of This Woman’s Work: Essays on Music. Her debut novel, Hagstone, was published in 2024 by 4th Estate. It was longlisted for Dublin International Literary Award and shortlisted for the John McGahern Book Prize. 

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Aoife Barry is a freelance journalist and author of the bestselling book Social Capital, about social media in Ireland, which was nominated for an Irish Book Award. She is an arts columnist for the Sunday Times, the co-presenter of culture podcast Get Around To It; has bylines across all major Irish newspapers and appears regularly on RTE Radio One, Newstalk and Today FM. 

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Following an MA in Film and TV studies in DCU, Nell joined Element Pictures in 2008 where she headed up Publicity and Corporate Comms for the company for over 11 years. In March 2019, Nell left Element and co-founded Break Out Pictures, an innovative film distribution company with a firm dedication to supporting emerging and established creatives. Break Out Pictures is a theatrical first all-rights distribution company that looks to acquire the best in independent film for the Ire/UK market.  Recent releases include Aoife Kelleher’s documentary on our former president MRS. ROBINSON, the critically acclaimed book adaptation THAT THEY MAY FACE THE RISING SUN directed by Pat Collins and the compelling BLUE ROAD:THE EDNA O'BRIEN STORY. In 2022, Break Out Pictures released Oscar and BAFTA Nominated An Cailín Ciúin to much critical and commercial success.

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Mark Little is an entrepreneur and journalist working to understand the impact of technology on media and democracy. Mark is the co-founder of Kinzen, which used AI and human analysis to detect online harms, and the founder of Storyful, the world's first social news agency. Mark has worked on trust and safety issues at Spotify, and developed media partnerships for Twitter. He is a former TV presenter and foreign correspondent for RTE, and was a member of the Future of Media Commission, tasked with mapping the future of public media in Ireland.

Úna Molloy has been working as an agent and event producer in the Irish music industry since 2006. Úna runs the Irish agency Turning Pirate, working with artists like Lisa Hannigan, Ye Vagabonds, Paul Noonan, Wallis Bird along with bringing artists like Carsie Blanton and Josh Okeefe to Ireland for tours.  Úna co founded the Live Venue Collective during Covid to help push for funding and employment grants to keep the independent grass roots music industry alive during Covid. Úna also owns Hibernacle, an events company that has produced lots of small festivals since the company started in 2020. Both Turning Pirate and Hibernacle are founded on the basis of creativity and collaboration and have worked hard to build and maintain relationships with artists and audience in the years they both have been alive.

Mark Mullery is an Irish animation professional and CTO of Cartoon Saloon for which he has worked since 2013. He has served as assistant director of My Father’s Dragon and the Oscar®-nominated feature Wolfwalkers, as the technical director of the Oscar®-nominated The Breadwinner and the Emmy® Award-nominated Puffin Rock, and as co-director of the upcoming feature Julián.

Jo is a sustainability journalist who has written for several Irish and international titles, including The Sunday Times Ireland, Irish Country Magazine and Elle UK. Jo is also the founder of GAFF Shop, an online platform for buying and selling pre-loved home pieces. Having gained a first-class honours degree in the MSc in Management for Sustainable Development at Dublin City University in 2023, Jo focuses on supporting ESG education and conversation through partnerships, events, filmmaking, and writing. She is passionate about caring for the planet. In 2024, she made her debut as a documentary producer. The film, Amplified: The Exportation of the Culture Wars, premiered at the Irish Film Institute’s Documentary Festival. She is currently developing a new documentary with the support of Screen Ireland.