REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT A RECEPTION HOSTED BY THE CONSUL GENERAL OF IRELAND IN SHANGHAI
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT A RECEPTION HOSTED BY THE CONSUL GENERAL OF IRELAND IN SHANGHAI WEDNESDAY 16TH JUNE, 2010
Dajia Wan Shang
Good evening everybody
Dia dhíbh a chairde, it’s a great pleasure to be back again in Shanghai as this great city hosts World Expo 2010. I’d like to thank our Consul General Connor O'Riordan and his team at the Consulate for their warm welcome and for hosting this reception – not to mention all the organisation they have invested in Ireland’s participation in Expo.
It is June 16th and that can only mean one thing – Bloomsday, that special day when Irish people everywhere join the worldwide army of fans of James Joyce to celebrate his epic work Ulysses. Here in Shanghai I am told there were lively Bloomsday celebrations, tomfoolery and shenanigans this morning at the Ireland Expo Pavilion!
Tomorrow is also an important day for the Irish for it is our Expo National Day and I am looking forward to finally seeing the Ireland Pavilion which has already been a huge hit with Expo’s teeming visitors.
I was last in Shanghai in October 2003 and I remember well seeing a presentation on the planned development of what was known as “The Pudong New Area”. Seven years later, I have seen the new Pudong with its breathtaking skyline of glittering skyscrapers and wonderful public plazas – each a testimony to the ambition and the determination of this city and its inhabitants. It is not hard to see why Shanghai was the right place for Expo 2010.
This reception showcases in a very human way the many links between contemporary Ireland and China. In the thirty years since diplomatic ties were established between China and Ireland following the launch by China of its policy of Reform and Opening Up, we have witnessed the most extraordinary economic and social developments in both countries, the maturing of a close and friendly relationship and the growth of links in many spheres. I pay a special tribute to those who are the source of those links – our Chinese guests here this evening and our Irish community here in China. You have each played an important part in the intensification of Sino-Irish relationships especially since the adoption of the Asia Strategy by the Irish Government in 1999. Political and trade relations have grown apace and there has been a blossoming of exchanges and relationships in third level and postgraduate education, in food and agriculture, tourism and in new areas such as financial services, the environment and investment opportunities. None of this happened by accident but by dint of hard work and I want to take this opportunity to commend the excellent work of the Consulate General and the Shanghai-based representatives of Enterprise Ireland, the IDA, Tourism Ireland and Bord Bia in promoting mutually beneficial relations between China and Ireland. I salute too the work of the Irish Business Forum in Shanghai. It is a great example of successful Irish business networking with the objective of supporting Irish people at home and abroad and I am delighted it was represented at the recent meeting of the Global Irish Network hosted by our Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Expo Ireland Pavilion.
Working together, Ireland and China have proved that distance and differences in size, population and political structures are no barriers to warm and friendly relationships. One fine example of our ever closer links is the Sister City Agreement between Shanghai and Cork, recently renewed to 2015, which facilitates cultural, educational, business and tourism links between the two cities. The Sister City relationship has flourished since the first agreement was signed in 2005, delivering tangible results and importantly increasing mutual understanding through the human bridges of friendship which it has helped to build.
It is good to be able to welcome many members of the Irish community in Shanghai this evening and to thank all those who work to bring the Irish together in this region. The Shanghai Irish community organisation “Le Chéile” draws its name from that well known Gaelic saying “ní neart go cur le chéile” freely translated as “our strength is working together” and as you have shown working together you have given the Irish and Chinese the fun and enjoyment of Ireland Week and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
I know that wherever Irish men and women go in the world, they take their love of Gaelic sport with them and their skill. Well done to the Shanghai ladies’ and men’s Gaelic football teams who participated recently in the China Gaelic Games in Shenzen. The ladies were crowned all-China champions which puts Shanghai up there with Kerry in the firmament of GAA greats. Comghairdeas leo go léir. My congratulations!
And just as the Irish men and women in Shanghai are fine ambassadors for our island, so too is the thriving Chinese community in Ireland for their homeland. Today more than 40,000 Chinese students are studying in Ireland. Chinese cultural festivals are held in Dublin, Galway and Cork. These festivals along with the Chinese New Year celebrations in Ireland are enjoyed by thousands of Irish people as well as the growing Chinese population. Ireland’s Chinese citizens, whether short-stay or with us for good, ensure that Chinese culture and heritage are part of our flourishing multi-cultural society.
With so many links to bind us – whether economic, cultural or the ties of friendship – I am confident that in the coming years the China Ireland relationship will widen and deepen and that the interaction and friendship between our two peoples will grow and flourish.
Xie Xie
Thank You