REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A TOURISM IRELAND EVENT SHANGHAI FRIDAY, 18TH JUNE, 2010
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT A TOURISM IRELAND EVENT SHANGHAI FRIDAY, 18TH JUNE, 2010
Dajia Shang Wu Hao - Good morning everybody
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to back in beautiful Shanghai and to have the pleasure of welcoming you all to this event organised by Tourism Ireland – the agency which markets the island of Ireland overseas.
In particular, I would like to welcome Madam Chen Danyan. Madam Chen’s wonderful book reflecting her travels in Ireland, ‘Swimming over the Deepest Ocean,’ will be launched here today. I know that during Madam Chen’s travels around the island of Ireland, she experienced our beautiful landscapes and dramatic coastlines and was introduced to our history and culture. I am delighted that she is sharing that experience with her readers here in China. Madam Chen mentioned to me that she has been travelling to and from Europe for more than 20 years and she feels that the Irish are the friendliest people she has met. It is hard to beat the evidence of an eye-witness – and we hope to encourage many more such eye-witnesses to come and see Ireland for themselves.
Thousands of young Chinese come to Ireland to study each year and they create important links between Ireland and every part of China. Many Irish companies are located here or are doing business with China and lots of Irish are coming here as tourists. Our Special athletes visited a couple of years ago for the Special World Olympic Summer Games. With each passing year we grow more knowledgeable about one another, more intertwined in each others lives. Millions of visitors come to Ireland from all over the world as tourists and with the relationship between Ireland and China thriving as never before, we hope to see tourism become one of the most important areas of our cooperation. With your help, we look forward to welcoming many more Chinese visitors in future years so that they too can come home with enough memories, if not to write a book like Madam Chen, to warm their hearts, enhance their lives and share with their friends.
Last time I was here I saw how instantly the Chinese people took to Riverdance and I met a lady who had translated James Joyce’s Ulysses into Chinese. The Chinese people, having themselves a rich and ancient heritage, appreciate the vibrant cultural heritage of Ireland. Accustomed as Chinese people are to a vast population and long journeys, Ireland has the huge advantage of a small population, easy travel, short journeys that offer not only magnificent scenery but scenery that changes dramatically every few miles. It also offers that humanly important smile and welcome which makes every traveller feel at home no matter how far from home.
I would like to thank the Chinese authorities and the many leading Chinese tourism and travel interests who are working with Tourism Ireland and their industry partners to develop our tourism business so that more and more Chinese can come to know Ireland well. One of my favourite DVDs is of the Chieftains in China - an amazing musical odyssey made in 1983 by the world famous Irish traditional music group the Chieftains. They introduced many Chinese not just to Irish music but to the Irish gift for inclusion, for friendship and fun and in particular for respect for other traditions. They also introduced many of us Irish to China and Chinese music. In that simple sharing of music we were opened up to one another as never before. Madam Chen met Matt Molloy of the Chieftains, when she visited his pub in the exquisite town of Westport, on Ireland’s west coast. I hope that in the years ahead many Chinese men, women and children will be drawn to Ireland and drawn back there having experienced it as a place where they made friends.
To all the media representatives here today, I wish you every success.
Go raibh maith agaibh go léir.
Xie Xie – Thank you.