Fond farewell for Dunamaise director

OUTGOING Dunamaise Arts Centre director Michelle de Forge was treated to a well-planned surprise lunch by colleagues, when she arrived back to an unexpected but delightful gathering at the Portlaoise venue to wish her well in her future endeavours.

Unknown to Michelle, box office manager Laura Dunne and front-of-house manager Martina Lawless, along with other staff members, had plotted to get her out of the Dunamaise by bringing her to lunch on Wednesday 16 July, so that those close to her could gather and wait for her to return.

Staff members later said that, unless they took her out, she would barely be gone for more than 10 minutes and would easily have realised what was going on, as “she’s always running around organising lots of different things at the same time”.

Several gifts were presented to Michelle including a piece of crystal, a bouquet of flowers, a plant and a freshly baked cake courtesy of the R32 Café.

A framed black and white photograph of Michelle standing on the steps of the Dunamaise, taken by photographer Terry Conroy, along with a copy of the Portlaoise Camera Club’s book titled Portlaoise Through the Lens were presented to her by Terry on behalf of the club.

Also presented to Michelle was a framed copy of her interview with the Laois Nationalist, which resulted in a double-page feature in the previous week’s edition. The PDFs from the feature were requested by Dunamaise staff, who framed them and displayed them on an easel in the café area for people to read. The framed interview was later presented to Michelle by Cllr Pádraig Fleming.

As Michelle came back from lunch completely unaware of the gathering, she was greeted in the foyer by the man who took pleasure in appointing her as venue director back in 2013.

Former chairman of the board of directors, Louis Brennan, was the first to wish Michelle well. When she turned the corner into the café area, she was clearly shocked and surprised when she saw her colleagues, friends, and representatives of Laois County Council waiting to greet her and wish her well.

Before Michelle got back from her ‘decoy lunch’, Louis said: “She managed the Dunamaise Theatre with excellence and perfection. Everything that she did, she did greatly and her friends and the staff are acknowledging her hard work here today. She deserves every bit of it and I wish her every success in the future.” 

For a time, Michelle made her way around the tables talking to everyone before she was honoured for her hard work and unparalleled dedication over her almost 13 years, with speeches by Laura Dunne, Louis Brennan and Cllr Fleming.

While thanking everyone for the huge surprise, Michelle spoke about her role over the years and her amazing team. She concluded by saying that she hopes to be freelancing and working in the arts, following a planned break.

To a huge round of applause, she said: “I’ll certainly be back in Laois and across the midlands working on various projects, so you won’t see the back of me! I’m so grateful for this wonderful surprise and unnecessary showering of gifts.” 

 A native of Birr, Co Offaly, Michelle announced on 4 July that she would leave her role as Dunamaise Arts Centre chief executive and venue director at the end of this month, after nearly 13 challenging but deeply rewarding years.

A recruitment process to appoint her successor is underway.