Maria is a lecturer in taxation in 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 spanning law and cultural policy.

She joined the J. E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics and the 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.

She is active in shaping tax policy for the creative industries in Ireland and in this capacity held the position of chair of the Board of Imirt, the Irish games representative body for a number of years. She regualrly contributes to policy discussions in this area including the Entertainment IP summit in January 2026. She leads Imirt’s Section 481A Sub-committee.

Maria O’Brien joined University of Galway in 2024. She holds a dual position between the J. E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics and the School of Law. She previously worked in the School of Arts, English and Languages at Queen’s University Belfast.

Maria’s research sits between the disciplines of business and law, focusing primarily on issues of taxation and creative industries policy from an Irish and European Union perspective. She works on the law and political economy of cultural and creative industries, with a particular focus on audiovisual industries including film and digital games. She has published on aspects of Irish and European audiovisual policy, including the application of spatialisation to Irish film policy.