Speech at a Garden Party to mark Bloomsday
Áras an Uachtaráin, 17 June 2017
Tá áthas orm féin agus ar Saidhbhín fáilte a fhearadh romhaibh go hÁras an Uachtaráin. Tá áthas orainn go raibh sibh in ann a bheith linn le haghaidh tráthnóna aoibhnis, cairdis agus comhráite spreagthacha.
[Sabina and I are very happy to welcome you to áras an Uachtaráin. We are delighted to be sharing your company for an afternoon of enjoyment, friendship and stimulating conversations.]
As we do so, we are aware of the grief being experienced by our neighbours in London at Grenfell Tower.
The garden party season is a special time of the year here in the Áras when Sabina and I welcome to áras an Uachtaráin many citizens who have contributed in their unique way to Irish society, in acts of citizenship and solidarity, through the generous giving of their talents, skills and time.
This afternoon I have the privilege of welcoming members of a special community - Ireland’s literary community - and creative thinkers to the gardens of áras an Uachtaráin.
I am pleased to have the opportunity of thanking you for all you contribute to our society, and to Ireland’s reputation as a country of literary renown and imagination.
Yesterday, as a nation, we celebrated Bloomsday, honouring that great work of twentieth century literature Ulysses. Built around a day in the life of somebody who would become one of the world’s most well-known migrants. There is, in Leopold Bloom’s famous odyssey around Dublin on 16th June, a poignant sense of a citizen in search of a sense of identity and nationality.
Joyce, in breaking the mould of the novel, creating a new form, foresaw that the writing he wished to do would be difficult both to achieve and have published in Ireland, and thus in pursuit of what he saw as his mission as a writer, and to realise his full possibilities as a writer, he chose to leave Irish shores and became a permanent exile, a man apart.
Words matter. They can advocate or they can threaten, they can support or subvert, they can encapsulate or they can emancipate, and those are never simply choices.
Today however is an exciting time to be a writer, or indeed a reader, in Ireland. Irish fiction is thriving and flourishing. Every week sees the heralding of new and original work by Irish writers unafraid to push boundaries, and in so many cases, to defiantly challenge their readers.
Internationally, more and more Irish writers are making a profound impact as they are garnering admiring reviews, most importantly from their peers, and they are receiving the recognition of international prizes.
The figures published last year indicated that book sales in Ireland had increased by up to 20 percent, with a particularly large growth in the sale of books for children. This is good news. There can be no doubt that the world of Irish literature has become a greatly renewed and empowered space, its critical role in Irish society a newly energised one.
This afternoon I am delighted to have gathered here so many of those who work in and contribute to that space. Looking around me I see so many familiar faces, writers whose long and distinguished careers have made such a profound impact on the world of literature, both here in Ireland and across the world.
I also see many new faces, those writers who have only recently experienced the joy of seeing their work in print, but who are already making their mark on our literary landscape with work that continues to push boundaries and move Irish literature forward.
Sabina and I have invited you here as writers of individual renown and success. However, equally importantly, you have been invited here as members of a writing community that could take the opportunity to celebrate, amongst like-minded people, the creativity you share and that so defines you.
Today’s world of Irish literature is a vibrant and interconnected one. It is also a greatly interactive and supportive one, where exciting new journals and anthologies, weekly and well attended launches of new works, and the initiation of many opportunities for the reading of works in progress continue to bring our writers together in a spirit of shared community and solidarity.
Indeed, it is always greatly encouraging to experience the sense of family that exists amongst the writing community, a family composed of creative individuals interested in supporting each other’s gift and talent, and a multi-generational family who chart together the changing landscape and new patterns of a constantly changing society through the prism of their own experience and perspective.
Some of you here today are poets and short story writers, adept at capturing singular moments of revelation, redemption or insight, others amongst you are novelists who use words to deftly move, coerce or navigate the reader through time and place, perhaps, and myriad complex thoughts and emotions. Some of you are playwrights whose skillful weaving of that which is spoken and that which is left unsaid, bring us so deeply into the lives and thoughts of others, and some of you, I am delighted to say represent the world of children’s literature - that important space of possibility and wonder from where all our writers began the journey that has brought them here today.
May I also mention, and particularly thank, the many amongst you who do so much to encourage and support new and emerging writers. By offering new opportunities for publication or readings, facilitating workshops and seminars, taking up positions as writers in residence, and in so many other ways generously sharing your talent and expertise, you are making an invaluable contribution to the development of Irish literature and the discovery and emergence of new and exciting literary voices.
May I take the opportunity of saying too how valuable the libraries and library staff of Ireland’s libraries, public and private, are, have always been, in providing space for readings, advice and encouragement to readers and writers alike.
I was thinking earlier this afternoon that if we were to take the combined published works of all those here today and lay them out in single file, the distance they covered would be remarkable. Ever more remarkable, however, would be the range of experience they cover, the many stages and moods and shades of Irish life that would be contained in that long line of exquisitely written novels, short stories, poetry and plays. For that is the great and profound legacy which writers gift to future generations; the sensitive and insightful capturing of the moods and concerns of their own eras and generational experiences - unique and exceptional moments which will inform that which is yet to come.
Gabhaim buíochas libh de bhárr sinn agus tá áthas orm go raibh sé ar bhur gcumas a bheith linn inniu. Is mian liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháíl libh agus sibh a mholadh as bhur dtallann a roinnt le bhur gcomhshaoránaigh, agus don uile rud a dhéanann sibh le cliú agus cáil na hÉireann a bhreisiú ar an ardán idirnáisiúnta.
[I thank you for that and am delighted that so many of you have been able to join us today. May I congratulate and commend all of you for the talent you so generously share with your fellow citizens, and for all you do to enhance Ireland’s reputation on the international stage.]
As always, Bloomsday for Sabina and I and all of you, calls to mind Deirdre O’Connell who would have been seventy-eight last week. Deirdre, as founder of the Focus Theatre played an integral role in the world of Irish theatre. Indeed, some of you here today will recall the Focus Theatre as an important part of your artistic journey and will have your own personal memories of that much loved and respected theatre. So today it is fitting that we remember Deirdre and her profound contribution to Ireland’s cultural life.
I would like to conclude by thanking all those who have worked so hard on behalf of the Áras to make this a wonderful occasion for you. A big thank you to our MC Mary Kennedy; and to The Stunning, Eleanor McEvoy, the Trieste Ensemble, Brenda and Noel, Little John Nee, the Dublin Fire Brigade Pipe Band, and the Dublin Male Welsh Voice Choir who have provided such magnificent entertainment throughout the afternoon.
Sabina and I are greatly looking forward to seeing more performances in a few minutes. I also thank the National Library for providing such interesting archival material.
On your behalf and my own, I salute the hard work, unfailing good humour and – not least – culinary skills of the staff here in Áras an Uachtaráin.
Our thanks for the assistance of the Civil Defence, our friends from St. John of Gods, the Defence Forces, and our Gaisce volunteers.
Sabina and I hope you have a great afternoon. Enjoy the rest of your time here and thank you for coming.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.