Danielle Ryan

Ryan graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2006. In 2007, she made her theatrical stage debut in Food to positive reviews.[1] In the same year, she appeared in How About You, a film based on a collection of stories by Maeve Binchy[2] and The Trial of Tony Blair. She has also appeared in Vivarium, which premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, The Silencing,[3] and Wild Mountain Thyme (film) alongside Jamie Dornan, Emily Blunt and Jon Hamm.[4]

Her television work includes her role as Agent Sophia Elias in The Professionals[5] and roles in Doctors, The Tudors, Casualty (TV series) and Fair City. Ryan is credited as a producer on 6 productions,[6] including Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami, Song of Granite, which was selected as the Irish entry for the Best Foreign Film at the 90th Academy Awards, Rialto, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2019 and L.O.L.A., which wrapped in November 2020.[7]

In 2013, Ryan launched the brand ROADS,[8] which encompasses luxury fragrances, book publishing and film production.[9] She has said that in setting up ROADS, she wanted to find a way of crossing over from the artistic and creative worlds into tangible products.[10]

As of November 2019, there are 18 Eau de Perfum,[11] 5 candles[12] and more than 50 books[13] for sale under the ROADS label around the world.[14]

Trinity College Dublin discontinued its acting degree in 2007, leaving Ireland with 'no high-level full-time actor training'.[15] In response, Ryan founded[16] The Lir,[17] Ireland's National Academy of Dramatic Art, which she announced in 2009.[18]

The Lir is part of Trinity College Dublin and has an association with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.[19] It welcomed its first students in 2011, its opening attracting press coverage around the world.[20] Ryan funded a purpose-built premises for the Lir,[21] which is located in Grand Canal Dock in Dublin.

The Lir offers conservatoire training for actors along with degrees in stage management and technical theatre as well as Masters in Fine Art for playwriting, theatre directing and stage design.[22]

In 2016, Trinity College wrote off a debt of €225,000 that The Lir owed, and the organisation was in deficit of €271,859. However in 2017, following the write off, The Lir had an annual income of €2.1 million and was in surplus of €10,382, staging 10 theatre shows, an opera production, two short films, a design exhibition and an industry showcase.[16]

Ryan announced in 2011, at the United Nations General Assembly, that her family would donate $14 million to help some of the most vulnerable children in Sri Lanka.[23] This was the largest single private donation ever made to UNICEF, for which Ryan received the UNICEF Ireland's children's award from former Irish president Mary Robinson in 2012.[24]

The donation was used to rebuild the health and education infrastructure in four towns in the North of Sri Lanka[25] that had been destroyed by the Sri Lankan Civil War.

She continues to work with UNICEF, giving keynote speeches on their behalf and acting as a member of the UNICEF International Council.[26]

Ryan has donated to Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin[27] and Temple Street Children's University Hospital,[28] both in Dublin.

She also provided funding to One in Four,[29] a charity in Ireland which helps people affected by childhood sexual abuse.[30]