Ciarán Mackel, a senior figure in the Irish language revival in Belfast, is one of Ireland’s most ambitious and courageous architects who believes that architecture is a tool of community development.
As a partner in North Belfast-based company Mackel Doherty, he has pioneered a series of developments which have turbo-charged regeneration efforts while providing first- class buildings. His company has won a string of awards for their education and community projects for the Irish language community which include Coláiste Feirste, Bunscoil an tSléibhe Dhuibh and An Nasc. Ciarán believes that architecture is an art form which must respect the community it serves, a philosophy all too evident in his innovative plans for an extension to the Cultúrlann in Belfast’s burgeoning Gaeltacht Quarter.