President pays a visit to Scotland

AN IRISH VOICE EXCLUSIVE IRELAND'S President Catherine Connolly travels to Scotland today for a four-day visit during which time she will explore the links between Scotland and Ireland, spend time meeting the Irish community here and meet with key political figures.

The visit—her first to Scotland since assuming the Presidency late last year—follows on from President Connolly’s meeting with representatives of Scotland’s Irish community in Leeds in May, during which she vowed to make the journey to Scotland soon.

“I am very pleased to have the opportunity of making an Official Visit to Scotland and building on my engagement with the First Minister in the opening weeks of my Presidency,” President Connolly said. “Ireland and Scotland are bound by strong ties of friendship, culture and language, with people moving between our countries for centuries.

“I am very much looking forward to meeting with those involved in many of the projects bringing our people together over the coming days, as well as meeting with members of the Irish community in Scotland.”

Having met with King Charles at Buckingham Palace on her visit in May, and having made two official visits north of the border in February and August, during each of which she met with the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, President Connolly also previously received the First Minister of Wales, Rhun ap Iorwerth, on a courtesy call at Áras an Uachtaráin.

The President’s visit begins at the National Library of Scotland where she will meet with the team working on the ‘Across these Islands: Shared histories, Shared futures’ project, funded under the UK–Ireland Shared Island Cultural Co-operation Programme. She will also view artefacts from the permanent collection in the Library.

She will later attend the Royal Society of Edinburgh where she will be awarded with an Honorary Fellowship and receive an overview of the ‘Silent Harm’ project, funded under a Royal Irish Academy/Royal Society of Edinburgh programme, supporting deaf victims of gender-based violence in rural areas. There, she will also meet with some of those involved in the establishment of NAOISE (the Network of Academics for Irish and Scottish Engagement) and spend time with the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, Kenneth Gibson MSP.

Amongst her other engagements will be events in Glasgow, Coatbridge, and the Isle of Skye, at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Scotland’s National Centre for Gaelic Language and Culture.

A crucial part of the visit will be the chance to develop the strong connection she had made with Irish community representatives in Leeds earlier this year and see for herself the strength and vibrancy of Irish community activity in Scotland.