“A toast to honour the 2016 Kennedy Center Irish Arts Festival”
President Rutter, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen
I am delighted to be here today to mark the launch of the Celebrating a Century of Irish Arts and Culture festival, which will take place here at the Kennedy Centre in May and June of next year.
2016 will be a significant year for Ireland, marking as it does the 100th anniversary of one of the most important moments in Irish history: the 1916 Rising.
As part of our Decade of Centenaries, the Irish government is organizing a programme of national and international events to commemorate this anniversary and to remember those who fought and those who died for Irish independence.
Ireland 2016 will be a call to action for the people of Ireland, the Irish Diaspora, and friends of Ireland all around the world to remember that pivotal period in Irish history, to celebrate the achievements of the past one hundred years and to re-imagine the future.
This centenary will have particular resonance in the United States. Five of the seven signatories to the 1916 Proclamation of Independence spent periods of time here that influenced their thinking and actions. The U.S. is the only foreign country specifically mentioned in the Proclamation. The US has the greatest concentration of our Diaspora. Both countries have supported each other for centuries and the contemporary ties are of extraordinary depth and breadth.
The resonance will go far beyond the 34 million Americans who claim Irish heritage. The thirst for freedom and the desire for independence are understood at a most fundamental level here in the United States.
In the Declaration of Independence, the founders of this great nation said: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness; [and] that to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”.
Similarly, the men and women of the 1916 Rising envisaged a new Ireland as a national democracy; an Ireland which, in the words of our Proclamation of Independence, ‘guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and [which] declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and all of its parts, cherishing all of the children of the nation equally.’
The United States and Ireland have long enjoyed a deep friendship and understanding based on shared values and kinship.
Irish men and women and their descendents helped to found and build this great country.
Eight of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence were of Irish descent, three were actually born in Ireland.
Irish regiments and many Irish individuals fought in the war of independence.
A painting of George Washington and his senior Irish officers hangs in the Irish Embassy here in Washington DC. Over the centuries, Irish immigrants have helped to build the physical and democratic infrastructure of this great nation, as well as its communities and economy.
In return, the U.S. has been one of Ireland’s most loyal friends. From the early days of independence to the Northern Ireland peace process and beyond, the United States has been a partner for Ireland.
So it is appropriate that we should have a big celebration of this important landmark in our history here.
The Embassy in Washington and our Consulates General in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, New York & San Francisco have been preparing a programme of political, economic and cultural events right across the United States throughout the centenary year to mark the anniversary.
The defining character of the year’s events will be to present modern twenty first century Ireland - while 1916 will be the point of departure, the emphasis will be very strongly on the journey and the point of arrival, as well as setting our compass for the future.
The flagship event in the US will be a three-week Irish arts festival here at the Kennedy Center from May 16 to June 5. Celebrating a Century of Irish Arts and Culture! will showcase the best of traditional and contemporary Ireland across the full range of the arts, including theatre, literature, music and dance, as well as a few innovative surprises.
We are delighted to partner with the Kennedy Center - the National Cultural Center and a living memorial to one of the greatest Irish Americans - on this festival.
I cannot think of a more appropriate venue at which to celebrate our heritage and our history. The Kennedy Center has a long a distinguished track record in international programming, and Irish culture - our storytelling through literature and theatre, our music, our dance, our creativity - has enthralled audiences around the world for centuries, nowhere more so than here in the United States. We look forward to a very exciting festival next year.
I would like to thank Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter and Chairman David Rubenstein for their vision and support for this project. Also Alicia Adams, Director of International Programming and Dance and curator of the festival, and all of the team here at the Center.
Of course, no events like this are possible without the assistance of committed sponsors and supporters.
The Irish Government has provided seed funding for Celebrating a Century, but it takes a lot of helping hands to make something like this work. I would like to recognise in particular Helen Henderson and the HRH Foundation, the Presenting Underwriter of the festival, as well as the other major sponsors, Coca Cola and Angela Moore.
There is an expression in the Irish language, ní neart go cur le chéile, which roughly translates as “there is strength in numbers”. We look forward to working with all of you here today on a strong festival, and to sharing our celebration of the 100 year journey from 1916 to today with our friends here in the United States.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.
Thank you very much.
ENDS