Speech at “Ceangal” Concert, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Glasgow, Scotland, 27 June 2016
Lord Provost, First Minister, Ministers,
A Cháirde go léir:
Is mian liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil le hArd-Phropast Docherty agus le Chéad-Aire Sturgeon as bhur bhfíorchaoin fáilte tráthnóna. Is críoch íontach í an ceolchoirm seo ar lá íontach i gCathair Ghlaschú.
[I would like to thank Lord Provost Docherty and First Minister Sturgeon for their warm and generous welcome this evening. Tonight’s concert serves as a fitting conclusion to a memorable day of engagements in the City of Glasgow.]
It is particularly appropriate that I should begin my visit to Scotland here in Glasgow, a city with a special resonance in the Irish memory, and a place where through the generations many thousands of Irish men and women, from all traditions and all parts of our island, have made their homes.
Glasgow along with Liverpool was one of the locations where so many of our Irish families sought refuge as the Famine of the 19th century made its impact.
The Irish who have come here over many years have gained much from this city. I like to think, too, that they have given much in return.
It has been a pleasure to meet today and this evening with so many members of the Irish community here in Scotland, from the City of Glasgow as well as from great centres of community activity such as Coatbridge. Among those I have met I have seen great pride in Irish heritage, in our shared inherited Celtic heritage, our forged heritage from a shared set of comings and goings. I have also seen great commitment to the contemporary community life of Scotland. I know that it is to Irish communities here that we owe much of the strength and the warmth of the current relationship between our two countries.
This evening demonstrates again the importance of culture in our lives. It is a particular pleasure for me to be present at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall tonight for this wonderful celebration of the strong affinities and artistic ties - the legacy of many centuries of contact, exchange and influence - that link the great cultural and language traditions of Ireland and Scotland.
Indeed the intertwined histories that we have shared through many centuries give a particular richness to the cultural and language links that bind us so closely today.
Our relationship extends far into the mists of the past – so far that the realm of history merges into that of myth, legend and tradition. It has, in every period, involved collaboration and shared influence, for example in the matter of the late Luke Kelly and Ewan Maccoll.
These enduring cultural connections draw on the depth of that shared history, but they are perhaps more important today than they have ever been. There are new challenges, which we can meet in a very distinctive way, by drawing, for example, on our shared respect for dignity of work, the environment, human rights and the central infrastructure of culture.
Tonight’s concert provides an opportunity to explore our shared cultural and language traditions in all their richness and energy, and will perhaps help us to understand the rich resource that the many dimensions of our complementary national identities offers us.
Is mian liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil roimh ré le ceoltóirí agus le damhsóirí na hÉireann agus na hAlban, agus níos faide i gcéin a chuirfidh siamsaíocht ar fáil dúinn anocht.
[I would like to express my thanks in advance to all the artists from Ireland, Scotland and further afield who will help in that exploration and entertain us this evening.]
I would also like to acknowledge with gratitude the work of Creative Scotland and Culture Ireland, the production team led by Donald Shaw, and all the staff here in the Royal Concert Hall, whose fruitful collaboration made this wonderful event possible.
I know that we have an outstanding evening of entertainment ahead of us, and I am delighted to be here to share it with you all.
Go raibh maith agaibh go léir.
