Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan TD arrived in China yesterday for a three-day visit to discuss how to expand cultural links between Ireland and the fast-growing Asian giant and translate these into opportunities for Ireland.
Ireland’s cultural offering is one of the country’s strongest calling cards internationally, the Minister said, and this was a great opportunity for Irish business and for Irish artists, creative industries and culture in this huge market.
“I think our cultural offering, and the interest in it, can be used to help leverage more interest in Ireland as a location for business and investment,” he said.
Of key interest to the Chinese will be Ireland’s assumption of the presidency of the European Union in January, and Mr Deenihan will discuss this with his Chinese counterpart, Cai Wu.
He was also planning to raise with Mr Cai the possible establishment of a Chinese cultural centre in Ireland, and will present a gift of an artist residency at Cill Rialaig for a prominent Chinese artist.
His programme also includes a meeting local cultural czars, including senior representatives from the National Centre for the Performing Arts, the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City and the National Library of China.
The Minister will visit the Beijing Dublin International College, which is the joint campus of UCD and Beijing University of Technology.
He will officiate at an internship presentation at the Irish Embassy and host an event for members of the cultural and business community – supported by the IDA – to coincide with the first Beijing performance in a new China tour of Riverdance.
The Riverdance performance will be viewed by nearly 200 senior executives from China’s leading outbound companies, state-owned enterprises and government officials, who were chosen by the Chinese law firm network linked to AL Goodbody’s partnership programme in China.
