44 C O N T E X T 8 7 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 4 Biography Seán O’Reilly, the IHBC’s first director Vox pop Dave Jump is senior planning officer (conservation officer) with Isle of Anglesey County Council. Who has been your greatest inspiration? Jeff St Paul, former conservation officer for Gwynedd County Council, because of his enthusiasm for historic building conservation. What has been your best idea? The creation of character appraisals to supplementary planning guidance status for all conservation areas in my authority. What would you like to have been if you had not become a conservationist? A commercial artist. How do you reply when at a party someone asks you what you do? Always the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Not. What is the biggest frustration in your job? When listed building owners wish to replace original features such as windows and doors because their builders have told them that is what they must do rather than carrying out conservation repairs. What would you like to be doing in five years time? The same as I do now but for much more money. What is your favourite building? Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. What is your favourite place? Snowdonia. What is your favourite book? The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, which I’m hooked on, although the book I read the most is Listed Buildings by Suddards and Hargreaves. Seán O’Reilly was educated at University College Dublin, studying history of art, archaeology and mathematics, before working in tertiary education and, later, as a private consultant in historic buildings and places. He completed his doctorate in 1994. In 1996 he relocated to Edinburgh to take up his previous post as director of The Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland. As its chief executive officer he has helped promote the society’s A-listed headquarters, the former Glasite Meeting House in Edinburgh’s World Heritage Site, as a viable commercial proposition for the organisation, and advanced a strategy for its adaptation and improvement. He received his post-graduate masters in urban and regional planning (MURP) in 2002 from Heriot-Watt (Edinburgh College of Art). Seán has lectured, written and advised on many aspects of the history and management of the built heritage in both Ireland and the United Kingdom. He has published extensively, including Irish Houses and Gardens: from the archives of Country Life (1998), and he devised the successful format for the Irish Georgian Society’s journal, Irish Architectural and Decorative Studies. He is a founding member and treasurer of the Scottish cross-sector link organisation Built Environment Forum Scotland (BEFS), which has successfully lobbied in favour of the built environment – historic and contemporary – in a devolved Scotland. He is also a member of a number of other related UK and Scottish organisations and committees. In his role as director of a national voluntary amenity organisation he has extensive experience of matters affecting historic buildings and places. With a long-standing involvement in the educational sector, in particular at community and tertiary levels, he has significant experience of the role of the historic environment in education and training. Seán lives in Edinburgh with his wife Deborah and two young daughters. Seán O’Reilly can be contacted at [email protected]. What do you do in your spare time? I swim, walk, garden, DIY, draw and paint. What organisations are you a member of? MRTPI and IHBC. Which one issue would you particularly like the IHBC to campaign on? The VAT issue.
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