Jump to Content

Staff Profiles

Dr Maria O'Brien

PhD

Contact Details

Lecturer - Contract Type B
School of Law
University of Galway
E: Maria.M.OBrien@universityofgalway.ie

Biography

Maria is a lecturer in taxation in the University of Galway. Having worked as a lawyer in Dublin and London for 10 years, she then undertook graduate study in the field of taxation and creative industries policy. She completed her Phd on tax incentives for the film industries in 2020 and has held a number of academic positions between law and cultural policy. She joined the J.E Cairnes School of Business & Economics/School of Law in April 2024.

Maria is a founding member and administrator of the Arts Council of Ireland funded East Asia Film Festival Ireland (www.eaffi.ie).

Maria is on the board of Imirt, the Irish games representative body and in this capacity has secured funding for workshops and core funding for 2023 and 2024.

Peer Reviewed Journals

	Year	Publication
	(2023)	'Book Review: Taiwan New Cinema at Film Festivals Beth Tsai, 2023' O' Brien, Maria (2023) 'Book Review: Taiwan New Cinema at Film Festivals Beth Tsai, 2023'. Transnational Cinemas, [DOI] [Details]
	(2023)	'Lefebvre and the media production space' Maria O'Brien (2023) 'Lefebvre and the media production space'. Mediapolis, 8 (1) [Details]
	(2022)	'A policy review of Strategy 2022-2025, Culture Ireland' Maria O'Brien (2022) 'A policy review of Strategy 2022-2025, Culture Ireland'. Irish Journal of Arts Management and Cultural Policy, 9 :58-69 [Details]
	(2021)	'The Political Economy of Local Cinema: A Critical Introduction: Book Review' O'Brien, Maria (2021) 'The Political Economy of Local Cinema: A Critical Introduction: Book Review'. Cultural Trends, :1-3 [DOI] [Details]
	(2020)	'Culture 2025: A National Cultural Policy Framework for Ireland' Steven Hadley and Patrick Collins and Maria O'Brien (2020) 'Culture 2025: A National Cultural Policy Framework for Ireland'. Cultural Trends, 29 (2):145-159 [DOI] [Details]
	(2019)	'The audiovisual action plan: a new audiovisual policy for Ireland' Maria O'Brien (2019) 'The audiovisual action plan: a new audiovisual policy for Ireland'. Cultural Trends, 28 (5):417-428 [DOI] [Details]

Book Chapters

	Year	Publication
	(2024)	'Media Policy and Cultural Leadership ¿ James Hickey, European Film Academy: In Conversation (Ireland) Hickey (European Film Academy) In Conversation' Maria O'Brien (2024) 'Media Policy and Cultural Leadership ¿ James Hickey, European Film Academy: In Conversation (Ireland) Hickey (European Film Academy) In Conversation' In: Cultural Leadership in Practice: Beyond Arts Management and Cultural Policy. London & New York: Routledge. [Details]
	(2020)	'Brooklyn and the Other Side of the Ocean: The International and Transnational in Irish Cinema' Maria O'Brien and Laura Canning (2020) 'Brooklyn and the Other Side of the Ocean: The International and Transnational in Irish Cinema' In: :227-245 Springer International Publishing. [Details]

Published Reports

	Year	Publication
	(2023)	The Cultural Dividend Generated by Ireland¿s Film and Television Incentive. Olsberg SPI (2023) The Cultural Dividend Generated by Ireland¿s Film and Television Incentive. Olsberg SPI, London. [Details]

Conference Contributions

	Year	Publication
	(2024)	Media Industries 2024, Maria O'Brien (2024) Understanding the value of digital games: the Irish example. [Conference Paper], Media Industries 2024, Kings College London , 16-APR-24 - 19-APR-24. [Details]

Consultancy

	Client	Description
	Screen Ireland	Consultant on the Olsberg SPI report on cultural value and Section 481 (https://www.o-spi.com/projects/ireland-incentive-impact-study-cultural-dividend)

Other Activities

	Description
	Maria is a founding member of the Irish branch of the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA), DiGRA Ireland. http://www.digra.org/
	Board member of Imirt, the Irish games representative body