The judges for the 2000 Irish Times/ESB Theatre Awards have been chosen. They are arts administrator Una Carmody, playwright and former journalist Fergus Linehan, and festival director of Galway Arts Festival Rose Parkinson. This is the fourth year of the awards, and the nominees for 1999 were announced in The Irish Times on January 9th.

The winners in 12 creative categories and the recipients of the Judges' Special Award and the Irish Theatre Awards Special Tribute will be presented with their awards at a special celebration, A Year of Irish Theatre, in Dublin next Sunday.

Una Carmody is an arts administrator born in Dublin in 1962. She is currently director of sales and lettings with Temple Bar Properties, where she was previously cultural manager with responsibility for programming and events in Temple Bar and the development of cultural facilities. From 1986 she worked variously for the Dublin Film Festival, Emdee productions, Dublin Theatre Festival and as company manager of Opera Theatre Company. She worked with theatre production company Groundwork for four years prior to joining Temple Bar Properties in 1994. She is a board member of the Temple Bar Music Centre.

Fergus Linehan has written plays, musicals and revues for virtually every theatre in Dublin, including the Abbey, Gate, Gaiety, Olympia and Tivoli. Highlights include the musicals Mary Makebelieve and Speak of the Devil, and the plays Frauds and (adapted from Boucicault) The Streets of Dublin. Revues include Black Rosie and the two-handers starring his wife, Rosaleen, and Des Keogh. The team was reunited this year for Des and Rosie Ride Again. He has written two novels, Under the Durian Tree and The Safest Place, and retired last year from The Irish Times, where he had been Arts Editor and Film Critic.

Rose Parkinson is currently festival director of Galway Arts Festival. She is the fourth person to hold this position in the festival's 23 years and the first full-time director. Previously, Rose was involved with Galway Arts Festival for five years as press and PR manager. Other recent positions include producer of Murphy's Cat Laughs Comedy Festival, 1999; company manager of the Dublin Theatre Festival, 1998; company manager of Olympia Theatre Productions, 1998/99; producer with Bickerstaffe Theatre Company, 1998; and co-ordinator of Cuirt International Festival of Literature in 1996 and 1997.