Born in Derry in 1961, Dermot has been based in Dublin since 1979. He graduated from Trinity College, where he was a Foundation Scholar, with a first class honours BA in Early & Modern Irish and in 2001 was awarded a M.Sc. (Mgmt) in Organisational Behaviour.

Before joining TBP, Dermot was an Assistant Director of the Arts Council, responsible for grants, human resources and general planning and management. Dermot is well known as a traditional musician, producer, broadcaster and writer. He is a director of a number of high profile cultural organisations including Dublin International Dance Festival (Chairman) and Irish Traditional Music Archive (director) and since 2005 has been External Examiner in traditional music performance at the University of Limerick.