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The Diaspora  “Is
the global diaspora a vital asset to the future of Ireland, and are the
40 million Americans of Irish blood important?”
– Donald Keough, chairman of Allen and Co. at the U.S.-Ireland Forum
dinner.
Does the diaspora matter?
That was the key issue of discussion at the U.S.-Ireland Forum. The first
ever conference on the Irish diaspora was held in New York City in November.
It drew upwards of 1,000 people over two days, and was hailed as a great
success.
Growing up in Ireland I don’t think that we ever really understood
the concept of Irish America, or indeed, Irish-English. The idea that
you could be Irish and not born on the island of Ireland never occurred
to us.
Indeed, the very word “diaspora” was thought of in terms
of the Jewish people. It wasn’t until Mary Robinson became President
of Ireland that the word came into common usage there. Robinson, who had
spent a year at university in the Untied States, understood the concept
of Irish America, and promoted the idea of welcoming home the wandering
Irish.
I too, on landing in the U.S., learned that being Irish is as much a state
of mind as it is location of birth.
While much is known in Ireland of American investment, and perhaps our
Business 100, and those Irish-Americans involved in the peace process,
less is known about the culture of Irish America. One of the greatest
of all American playwrights, Eugene O’Neill, said, “The thing
the critics don’t get about me and my work is that I’m Irish.”
Alas, the Irish in Ireland also didn’t “get” the fact
that O'Neill was Irish. Robert Falls, director of Chicago’s Goodman
Theater who brought its highly successful production of The Iceman Cometh
to the Abbey in 1992, observed that some Irish actors refused to audition
because “they were suspicious of O’Neill. They’d say,
‘He really isn’t an Irishman, you know.’”
Meanwhile, Americans, and Irish-Americans, of course, have a great appreciation
for things Irish (O’Neill, who never went to Ireland, went to see
every production by the Abbey players in America and was influenced by
the plays of J.M. Synge). In fact, Northern Ireland actor Ciarán
Hinds, our handsome cover, is currently starring in the hit of Broadway,
Conor McPherson’s The Seafarer.
The idea that Ireland has never really understood Irish America’s
passion for its culture was one of the many topics explored at the U.S.-Ireland
Forum, which included discussions on the Future of the Celtic Tiger; Lessons
for Ireland from American Philanthropy; Irish America: Community in Transition,
and other key elements of the Irish/Irish-America relationship.
It was a truly fascinating two days that featured the best minds from
business, philanthropy, education and the arts. But the conference proved
to be so much more than the sum of its parts. It was a true gathering
of the clans. They came from all over, and an emotion that is hard to
describe was created. Stories were told and connections made. Irish writer
Colum McCann summed it up when he said, “If you put the finger on
the pulse of all the people here today, you will find a significant sea
change; something entirely new and unique is happening. Instead of silence,
exile and cunning, we are experiencing an explosion of togetherness, participation
and empathy. A whole new direction is being taken . . . ”
Next year the Forum will move to Dublin, where it will take on a worldwide
diaspora role. The decision followed the announcement by University College
Dublin that it will create an international center, “a hub focused
on the challenge and support of the global Irish family.”
The center, which has already received partial funding from Northern
Irish businessman Pat Doherty, is to be known as the John Hume Institute
of Irish Studies, and here lies another thread to the story. In many ways
the word diaspora applies to the Irish in the North as much as it does
to the Irish in America, and it is great to see the new inclusive relationship
developing on the island, and to know that the Irish-American “diaspora”
played such a part in bringing it about.
Just a couple of weeks after the Forum I was delighted to be included
in some of the welcoming events for the historic joint visit to New York
and Washington, D.C., of First Minister Ian Paisley and Deputy First Minister
Martin McGuinness. The two former combatants were seeking American investment
to launch Northern Ireland’s version of the Celtic Tiger, and that
in itself answers the question of whether the diaspora matters. But what
matters also is the history, culture and “story” of the Irish
diaspora, and that’s what the Irish on the island of Ireland need
to open their minds to.
Mortas Cine. |
