Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 March 2013
3. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will comment on his recent signing of a new memorandum of understanding with the People's Republic of China; and if he will outline the further cultural contacts and developments regarding promotion of Ireland-China links. [13221/13]
View answerMy recent visit to China was very successful and, arising from it, there are a number of opportunities to deepen the artistic and cultural exchanges between Ireland and China, with a view to also enhancing commercial and trade opportunities between the two countries. During my visit to Beijing I had official talks with the Chinese Minister of Culture, Cai Wu; met the leaders of some of China’s most important cultural institutions, including the National Library, the Palace Museum and the National Centre for the Performing Arts; and met a gathering of high level business contacts. I also had engagement with a range of practitioners in the cultural sector, discussed Ireland’s Presidency priorities with the EU delegation and visited the Beijing-Dublin International College, the new joint campus of UCD and Beijing University of Technology.
During the official engagement with Minister for Culture Cai I discussed his wish to extend the memorandum of understanding on cultural exchange and co-operation between Ireland and China when it expires at the end of this year. In the context of a new memorandum of understanding, I also expressed the hope to him that 2014 would be designated a year of Irish culture in China, with a number of cultural events taking place to mark this designation. On my return, I asked my Department to put together the outline of such a programme, in consultation with our embassy in Beijing and consulate general in Shanghai.
Minister Cai raised with me the possibility of China establishing a cultural centre in Ireland. China now has ten such cultural centres overseas and the total number will grow to 50 over time. I also discussed the subject of EU-China relations in the cultural sector with Minister Cai who believes Ireland’s Presidency of the European Union presents an opportunity to deepen cultural relations between China and the Union and I have agreed, as chair of the Council of Ministers of Culture, to raise this matter at the May meeting of the Council.
In other engagements, during my meeting with the vice president of the Palace Museum, I discussed the potential for enhanced co-operation between the Palace Museum and the Chester Beatty Library which has a world class collection of oriental books and artefacts. I also discussed the upcoming visit to China by the Royal Irish Academy of Music with the National Centre for the Performing Arts.
I attended a reception for approximately 200 high-level business contacts, co-sponsored by IDA Ireland and A&L Goodbody and sourced through the Goodbody Chinese law firm network which was launched by the Taoiseach last March. This included a 60 minute private performance by the Riverdance cast, a show which is extremely popular in China. I used the opportunity to highlight to this group Ireland’s economic recovery and attractiveness as a destination for foreign direct investment.
I commend the Minister and thank him for his report. He did an excellent job in furthering our trade and cultural relations with China. The Presidency of the European Union gives Ireland a wonderful opportunity to develop and expand our relationship further in cultural tourism, general tourism, education and job creation.
If the Deputy wants to table a question to obtain a response on this matter, he might do so as time allocated for this question is nearly up.
Will the Minister comment on the potential to treble our volume of trade with China? We could also double or treble the number of Chinese students who come to Ireland and have a foreign exchange programme for Chinese and Irish students. The Institute of Technology, Tralee, has a good quota of Chinese students and it is only one such example of an Irish educational institution. I understand there are approximately 3,000 Chinese students in Ireland and believe we could increase that number to 30,000, which would represent a huge investment in the economy.
I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I am convinced there is huge potential to develop links with China not only cultural but also economic. We can leverage cultural events in order to attract investment. We need only consider the companies that attended the special Riverdance performance. Representatives of all the top companies in China attended and unless they were interested in Ireland and perhaps especially interested in Riverdance which is a major brand in China, they would not have made the effort to come from all over the country to attend. I view cultural events as a great calling card for this country in China and I am convinced that we can leverage much more economic activity from them. Riverdance has resulted in huge connections in China where it has had a huge impact. It is amazing how it has resonated with its people. I understand the show, with the new dance being created by John McColgan and Moya Doherty, will tour China again next year. We should avail of these opportunities to attract as much attention to Ireland as possible. I discussed with the Minister the possibility of designating 2014 as the year of Irish culture in China and he was very receptive to the idea.
