Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
News
23 December 2019
Dear citizens and friends of Ireland in Hesse, Rhineland Palatinate and Saarland,
All of us at the Consulate General of Ireland, Frankfurt would like to wish you and yours a very merry Christmas and festive season, and a happy New Year.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support over the past four months since our arrival and the opening of the Consulate General of Ireland in Frankfurt. The welcome we have received – both from the Irish community and from our German friends – was truly warm and we are very grateful for that.
Here are some of the highlights from our time in Frankfurt so far:
July saw the visit of President Michael D Higgins to Frankfurt as part of the State Visit to Germany. President Higgins spoke magnificently at the very fine Hessischer Hof (you can view the full speech here) to mark the opening of the Consulate General. You can also view a full recap of the state visit on YouTube here and the Other Voices concert in Berlin, televised by RTÉ, is now available worldwide on the RTÉ Player.
August and September saw our team in Frankfurt arrive and lay the foundations for the Consulate General, beginning with Pathfinder Steven Balbirnie in August, followed by Consul General John Lynam and Vice Consul Niall Farrell. We set about recruiting local staff, setting up our temporary office at WeWork Taunusanlage 8 and meeting with key officials from the State Government. Our first visit to the Hessische Staatskanzlei was in October, where we were warmly received by Head of Protocol Dieter Beine.
Shortly after that, Ireland’s Ambassador to Germany, Dr Nicholas O’Brien, visited Hesse. A full programme saw the Ambassador meet with key figures including Europe Minister Lucia Puttrich and officials from the Hessian Economic Ministry and Hessen Trade and Invest. Ambassador O’Brien was also warmly received by Bürgermeister Uwe Becker here in Frankfurt and had the opportunity to meet with members of the Irish community associations at the Consulate’s official office opening on October 17th. Finally, Ambassador O’Brien visited and spoke at the Irish pavilion at the Frankfurter Buchmesse (picture below) and met with Irish publishers who travel over every year for one of the world’s premier industry events.
November saw the Irish Business Network’s very successful “Back to the Roots” event (below), hosted at the Frankfurt Archaeological Museum with the support of the Consulate, which explored and celebrated the history of the Celts in Hesse and links with the Celts in Ireland.
The Consulate was also delighted to host Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe TD in over two days in November. Minister Donohoe spoke at a meeting hosted by the Irish National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) in Frankfurt before engagements at the European Central Bank, including meeting President Christine Lagarde and speaking with the Irish staff working at the ECB. You can listen to Minister Donohoe, along with Ambassador O’Brien and Consul General Lynam, speaking about the opening of the Consulate in Frankfurt through a video on our Facebook page.
In the past week, our Consul General joined the eight other new Consuls General at the Hessian State Chancellery to meet with Minister Axel Wintermeyer who officially welcomed them in their new roles.
We have also tried to meet as many of the Irish citizens in Frankfurt as possible since arriving here and have met with Irish people involved in various sectors, including business, education and cultural.
We have been warmly welcomed to and participated in events ranging from Irish dancing to GAA, to those catering to the many Irish businesspeople in the region.
What to expect next year…
We are very keen to get to know even more friends of Ireland and branch out beyond Frankfurt. We are aiming to get to the state capitals of Mainz and Saarbrücken early in 2020 and will look to meet the Irish community and friends of Ireland living in Rhineland-Pfalz and Saarland. If you know of anyone who you think it would be good for us to meet, please get in touch.
2020, as our first full year in operation, will also see our events programme kick off in earnest. We are currently organising a Book Club, which will focus on contemporary Irish writing, which we expect to kick off in January (please keep an eye on our social media for details). We are also looking to support the establishment of a Pop-Up Gaeltacht in Frankfurt: for those of you unaware of the concept, this will involve turning a pub into an Irish language-only area for a night: well worth coming along to even if you only have the cúpla focail. Monthly business breakfasts and talks from Irish people or people with a link to Ireland with a story to tell are also in the pipeline.
If you are interested in contributing to any of the above events, which we aim to run on a regular basis, please let us know and we will be sure to keep you updated.
Of course, plans are afoot to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and we are talking to the relevant authorities to have a Frankfurt landmark turned green as part of the Global Greenings programme. We also plan to host a reception for our contacts and friends here in the city. The Buchmesse and other large-scale trade events are on the horizon as always and we are looking at how best to support our Irish state agencies, businesses, artists, and maximise Ireland’s presence at those fairs.
All in all, 2019 has been a momentous year for Ireland in Frankfurt and 2020 promises to be an even bigger year on every front. We look forward to meeting you and working with you in the New Year.
Again, the team at the Consulate would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Nollaig Shona agus Beannachtaí an tSéasúir daoibh.
John, Niall, Martina and Michaela