Jerry O'Donovan
TEAM Ireland were kept busy throughout August, supporting Irish artists and producers as the world’s largest collective festival took over the city of Edinburgh. The Consulate was joined by a team from the Embassy in London and by Culture Ireland as we sought to support the many Irish artists who came to Scotland over these four weeks. The combined festivals in Edinburgh provide the biggest annual global platform for Irish arts, with this year featuring more than 80 Irish shows at the Fringe Festival, 20 Irish writers at the Book Festival and two commissioned Irish art presentations at the Art Festival, many of which were supported by Culture Ireland.
The Edinburgh International Festival hosted acclaimed singer-songwriter Lisa O’Neill, the Irish Baroque Orchestra and folk quintet Goitse (which is Donegal Irish for ‘come here’) and these acts showcased the wide breadth and variety in Irish music at the moment, all underpinned by genuine world class talent. Seven Fringe acts were highlighted in this year’s Culture Ireland Showcase programme and a number of these have already secured tours to travel to other global festivals or events on the back of their visit to Edinburgh. Irish writers at the Edinburgh International Book Festival included a diverse mix including Blindboy Boatclub, Marian Keyes, Ferdia Lennon, Jan Carson and the highlight for many was the interview of this year’s Booker Prize winner Paul Lynch by former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon before a sold out audience at the Edinburgh Futures Institute.
Linking up and a launch
In early September, the Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence, Micheál Martin TD, and the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, Angus Robertson MSP, met for the third annual review meeting of the Ireland Scotland Joint Bilateral Review 2021-25. They were joined in this meeting by the Irish Consulate, the Scottish Government Office in Dublin and the Irish Ambassador in London, Martin Fraser.
Launched in January 2021, the Joint Bilateral Review provides a framework for cooperation across six thematic areas, where the Scottish Government has devolved responsibility. The Tánaiste and Cabinet Secretary Robertson reaffirmed both governments’ shared ambition for a strong bilateral relationship. They reviewed substantive progress on the Review’s recommendations over the past year, noting significant policy engagement between Scottish and Irish officials in a number of areas, including child poverty, health, financial services, and prevention of violence against women and girls. They noted in particular the significant collaboration on renewable energy, including through the ‘Advancing the Offshore Wind Opportunity: Bridging Irish and Scottish Perspectives’ events in Dublin and Cork in June.
The discussion also focused on further strengthening the relationship between Ireland and Scotland, and it was agreed that work would begin on developing a new cooperative framework for the post-2025 period.
Later in September, I was honoured to attend the launch of the Rutherglen History Group book Legacy of Love, which tells the story of the parish and parishioners of St Columbkille's Church in Rutherglen (see the News section for more).
The Consulate were delighted to support this project financially through the Strategic Diaspora Fund operated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and the final book was delivered to a very high standard. I was joined at the launch event by local MP Michael Shanks, Bishop of Motherwell, Joseph Toal and over 150 locals from Rutherglen.
This lively event paid particular tribute to the Irish in Rutherglen and it was a pleasure to see such widespread acknowledgement of the contribution of the Irish community to Scotland. I would like to pay particular tribute to Geraldine Baird who was a constant source of energy and a driving force behind the publication of this fine book.
Project and awards
We were delighted to collaborate in early October with Donegal County Council and Donegal Museum as part of their ‘Donegal Emigrant Working Lives project.’ This multi-year project (above) will gather stories and material from the Donegal diaspora who have worked in Scotland.
Drop-in sessions were held in the Scottish Football Museum and the City Chambers in Glasgow and in the Irish Consulate in Edinburgh. We were delighted to be joined by some familiar faces, including the Lord Provost of Glasgow Jacqueline McLaren who spoke of her own Donegal roots and perhaps the most famous Donegal export of them all, former Celtic FC and Ireland goalkeeper, Packie Bonner, who shared his story of his own working life in Glasgow.
This project is an important opportunity to celebrate the contribution that people from Donegal have made to Scotland over multiple generations and we look forward to hosting the completed project in 2025 in cities across Scotland.
To cap off a busy period of activity, we joined Causeway, the Ireland Scotland Business Exchange, for their gala black tie dinner celebrating award-winning businesses in Scotland, Northern Ireland and on the island of Ireland. This annual event is always a must attend and we were joined on stage by Alasdair Allan MSP, Acting Minister for Climate Action, who spoke of the important relationship that is developing between Ireland and Scotland in the renewable energy sector.
The business and academic sectors have played a key role in this relationship and these awards were an important acknowledgement of the contributions made by Scottish and Irish companies in innovation, sustainability and supporting the future generation of business leaders.
Jerry O’Donovan is the Consul General of Ireland to Scotland
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