Over 250 delegates to discuss how best to advance our cultural visibility globally
Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan, T.D., will today (24 January) open the inaugural Culture Ireland Global Ireland 2025 Conference in Dublin Castle.
The day-long conference – a key part of the Government’s Global Ireland 2025 initiative – brings together more than 250 key stakeholders in the arts world to debate how Ireland can strategically strengthen and advance its renowned distinctive global reputation for creativity.
Global Ireland 2025 highlights the importance of bringing Ireland’s culture and heritage to the wider world and sets out a number of actions to be taken under the initiative. One such action is the holding of a conference to discuss how best to advance our cultural visibility globally. Other actions being advanced include the recent appointment of Cultural Ambassadors and the development of New York and London Irish Arts Centres.
Minister Madigan said that “this conference offers us all a really important opportunity to take a day to talk, develop ideas and look at better ways of promoting our arts and culture worldwide. Global Ireland 2025 brings an unprecedented emphasis on the importance of Ireland’s arts and culture in the global arena. The strength of Ireland’s culture and creativity is recognised as a unique power we have to connect with others. Our culture offers us a way of expressing who we are, of connecting with our diaspora, and of opening doors for Ireland globally. Global Ireland is a plan which both recognises those strengths and provides us with an ambitious route map to realise their full potential.”
Two of Ireland’s recently appointed Cultural Ambassadors, musician Martin Hayes and architect Yvonne Farrell are among the sixteen panelists. Also travelling from abroad to participate are award winning actress Denise Gough; the director of the Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris, Nora Hickey M’Sichili; Edinburgh International Festival director Fergus Linehan and author and BBC broadcaster Emma Dabiri. The conference will be moderated by writer and broadcaster John Kelly.
The outcomes of the conference will be captured by Culture Ireland Chairperson, Kevin Rafter and these will feed into future strategy on the Government’s promotion of Irish arts worldwide.
Showcasing the best emerging artistic talent, the Culture Ireland Global Ireland 2025 conference will also feature performances by musicians Wallis Bird and Daoiri Farrell, spoken word artist Felispeaks, and a theatre piece on his association with the GAA by Timmy Creed.
The conference will be live-streamed here.
