Jerry O'Donovan
THE first quarter of 2024 has been an exceptionally busy one for the Consulate, with multiple events across the length and breadth of Scotland. Our first official event of the year was a celebration of St Brigid’s Day at the Consulate.
St Brigid’s Day—a celebration of women’s creativity and achievement—has become a permanent fixture in the Consulate’s calendar. This year, we hosted a discussion and musical performance in celebration of some remarkable women who collected and archived traditional folk music in remote parts of Scotland and Ireland. The proceedings were led by Mary McCarthy, a renowned Irish performer and teacher based in Scotland.
Through music and personal stories she shared the history of two women—Eileen Costello and Margaret Fay Shaw—whose personal connection helped to secure our joint cultural heritage, ensuring future generations can enjoy traditional Irish and Scottish folk music that might otherwise have been lost.
On February 8, I accompanied a delegation including Minister Simon Coveney—the Irish Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment—on a visit to Aberdeen and the north east of Scotland. The objective of the visit was to explore Scottish offshore wind best practice and engage with industry experts across the supply chain. As part of the visit, the delegation had an opportunity to view the Kincardine floating offshore wind farm as well as Operations and Maintenance centre for Ocean Winds’ Moray East offshore wind farm. The minister met with representatives from a number of enterprises involved in offshore wind development—including Irish companies involved in the Scottish supply chain—as well as policy makers from Scottish Government and we look forward to building connections between Ireland and Scotland in this important area.
During February, I also visited the University of St Andrews to meet with the Principal, Professor Sally Mapstone and other senior academic staff of the University. The university is a member of the British-Irish Chamber of Commerce and meets regularly in this and other forums with Irish Universities to discuss research and collaborative opportunities. I met with Irish academic staff and saw a number of very special books and archival material with Irish links. While there, I also visited the University’s Eden Campus to discuss the work they are doing to address climate change and visited a number of research clusters involved in breakthroughs in medical research and sustainable design. It was hugely interesting to see the deep academic and research links that exist between Ireland and Scotland and the Consulate will work with partners on both sides of the Irish sea to see how we can facilitate deeper research links between Ireland and Scotland.
Good sports
Later that month, the Consulate hosted a number of engagements, including the Scotland GAA Awards where I was honoured to present the award for Contribution to Irish Culture in Scotland. It is great to see the GAA recognising not only outstanding club and county volunteers and managers as part of their awards, but also the individuals who work alongside the GAA to promote other aspects of Irish culture and heritage.
I was delighted to present the 2022 Award to Grace McBride whose work with Ceann Creige Hurling and Camogie Club’s Culture Day helps to promote Irish culture to club members and beyond. The 2023 Award was presented to Evin Downey of Conradh na Gaeilge as a recognition of the work Evin does as part of the Glasgow St Patrick’s Day Festival, his organisation of Emerald Lunch Clubs and his support to so many other Irish community events and groups in Glasgow and beyond.
Well done to all of the winners on the night and we look forward working with Jenn Treacy and the new County Board for Scotland GAA in the year ahead.
I was delighted to join Tír Conaill Harps GAA club for a dinner dance as the Glasgow based club celebrated their 30th anniversary.
The strength and longevity of the GAA in Scotland is a tribute to the hard work and commitment of players, volunteers and sponsors from across Scotland who contribute so much to ensuring that our gaelic games continue to grow and are available to the next generation.
To jointly mark St Brigid’s Day and International Women's Day, the Consulate General of Ireland, along with our partners in Sport Ireland and Sportscotland, hosted an event to look at encouraging greater female participation in sport.
15 individuals working for sporting organisations across Ireland travelled to Scotland for the event, including Sport Ireland, Athletics Ireland, Gymnastics Ireland, Hockey Ireland and Basketball Ireland. Also represented were staff from four Local Sports Partnerships in Ireland including Mayo, Wicklow, Carlow and Sligo. These Irish participants were joined by their Scottish counterparts from sportscotland, the Active Scotland Division of Scottish Government as well as Hockey Scotland, Triathlon Scotland, Scottish Gymnastics, Scottish Athletics. Local authorities in Scotland were represented by Active Stirling, City of Edinburgh Council and West Lothian Council for an afternoon long series of workshops and seminars. This was followed by a public panel discussion which was opened by the Scottish Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport, Maree Todd MSP. Minister Todd spoke passionately about her efforts to increase participation, particularly for those from disadvantaged areas and those with care experience, who traditionally would have engaged less with sport in their teenage years.
The events contributed to deepening Ireland and Scotland’s connections in this key policy area for both countries and we look forward to seeing where these discussions lead in terms of future collaboration.
St Patrick's Day
Our official St Patrick’s Day programme in Scotland kicked off on March 12 when Minister for Education Norma Foley TD arrived in Edinburgh and held an engaging and warm roundtable event involving representatives from the London and Glasgow offices of Tourism Ireland and several Scottish tourism companies who operate on the Wild Atlantic Way and the Ring of Kerry. Minister Foley also met with her counterpart, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills Jenny Gilruth MSP at the Scottish Parliament. They discussed their respective briefs, potential collaborative opportunities, particularly in the areas of school inspectorates. The meeting was warm, detailed and both spoke of previous engagements across their systems with counterparts to explore mutual learnings.
We were delighted that so many friends could join us at the Consulate’s St Patrick’s Day reception at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh. We were joined by 300 guests comprising politicians, diplomatic contacts, economic, cultural and academic stakeholders and the Irish community. Minister Foley was joined by Cabinet Secretary for External Relations, Culture and the Constitution Angus Robertson.
The reception saw performances by members of Comhaltas in Glasgow (above) and dancers from Siamsoir Irish Dancers. This was followed by a discussion chaired by Steve Byrne—Director of Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland—exploring the close cultural links between Ireland and Scotland and the role that young members of the diaspora have had on Irish culture and the role that this plays in links between the two countries.
The ministerial delegation and Consul General visited Blackhall Primary School to meet with students and staff. On arrival, the delegation observed the PE session of the P5 class, which involved a Gaelic football skills session and they then spoke to students and staff involved in the session. Blackhall Primary is one of a number of schools throughout Scotland that offers Gaelic football as a PE subject to students, with these classes run by Scotland GAA’s Games Development Officer, Niall Considine, who is originally from Waterford. This role is funded by a grant from the Irish Government’s Emigrant Support Programme.
In addition to the ministerial programme, staff from the Consulate attended St Patrick’s Day events organised by the Irish community and cultural groups in areas such as Coatbridge, Rutherglen, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
At the Glasgow St Patrick’s Day Festival, I was delighted to be joined by the Lord Provost of Glasgow Jacqueline McLaren, leader of the Scottish Labour party Anas Sarwar, the Minister for Culture Kaukab Stewart and several other local MSPs and councillors. We were treated to a festival of music, dance, Irish language classes and a great opportunity to meet with friends new and old.
As we enter springtime and better weather awaits, we look forward to continuing to work with our key partners and stakeholders across Scotland with many more events and activities in the pipeline. Beir bua agus beannacht!
Jerry O’Donovan is the Consul General of Ireland to Scotland
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