Heather Humphreys has said that she regrets the appointment of John McNulty to the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art in 2014.
The appointment caused a political controversy, with Fianna Fáil claiming the move was designed to help the Donegal businessman secure a seat in a forthcoming Seanad by-election.
As the then Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys said she appointed Mr McNulty on his own merits.
However, speaking to RTÉ’s News at One today, Fine Gael’s Presidential Election candidate Ms Humphreys said she had regretted her actions.
Asked whether the affair raises questions about her judgement, she said: “I made a mistake when I made that appotntment.
“It was 11 years ago, I was a new minister at the time, and I think I had only been in the job a few weeks at that stage.
“It was the first time I ever appointed anybody to a Board and back then there was no clear process in place for Board appointments.
“Now we have the public appointments system,” she said.
Mrs Humphreys said it taught her that it does not matter whether it is an unpaid position or not, “there must be a proper transparent system for public appointments”.
“So, I have followed that system since,” she said.
Presidential candidate Humphreys regrets nominating Kilcar man to museum board was last modified: September 3rd, 2025 by Staff Writer
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