St Patrick's Day - Thursday 17 March
News
15 March 2022Dear Friends
It is St Patrick’s Day on Thursday, normally a time for our Irish diaspora of 80 million around the world to celebrate their Irish heritage. But we are living in very different times, especially here in Hong Kong!
The pace at which this wave has taken hold is genuinely shocking and the sympathies of the Irish in Hong Kong are with the bereaved who have lost family and friends and we stand in solidarity with the medical workers and others that have been on the frontline of the pandemic fight for an arduous two years. In parallel with pandemic developments in Hong Kong, we are witnessing scenes of tremendous human suffering in Ukraine. Nearly 3 million people have now left Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict. So Ireland marks St Patrick’s Day 2022 with solidarity rather than celebration and we express our Irish identity by re-dedicating ourselves to democratic and humanitarian values. We would encourage anyone who would like to help Ukraine, to donate to established Irish and international humanitarian organisations. A list of appeals is on the website of Dóchas, the umbrella organisation for Irish NGOs.
In supporting the #FightTheVirus campaign in Hong Kong, the efforts of the Consulate General of Ireland in Hong Kong is focussed primarily on an ONLINE INTERACTIVE EVENT which features contributions from singer-songwriter Serrini, Olympic medallist Siobhán Haughey and An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin as well as Irish traditional cultural performances and the music of Anita Mui Yim-fong. The event takes place as follows:
- Date/Time: Thursday 17 March @ 18:30 (HKT time)
- Location: www.Ireland.ie/HongKong
During the broadcast of the online event, my team and I will be available live and interactive. Check out our Facebook or Twitter page on Thursday afternoon for details on how to engage with us.
What else is happening this week?
- Global Greening
Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening started in 2010, when the Sydney Opera House was illuminated in green and over the last 12 years, the project has captured the world’s attention, with a record 725 global icons in 71 countries around the globe lighting up green last year. The project has galvanised Diaspora communities around the globe and reminded us all of the importance of what it means to be Irish on St Patrick’s Day. 2022 is a very different year and many of the traditional locations will light up blue and yellow in solidarity with Ukraine.
In Hong Kong, we thank the authorities for their support in allowing us to illuminate The Clocktower in TST. We do this in the spirit of solidarity with the people of Hong Kong and Ukraine at this difficult time.
- The Peninsula Hong Kong
We thank our friends in The Peninsula Hong Kong for their continued partnership with the Consulate General of Ireland, now in its 4th year. On Thursday, this historic building will be “dressed in green” to mark St Patrick’s Day. The Peninsula team have also created a range of Irish inspired festive menus, which are also available in “The Lobby” restaurant and for take away in line with Hong Kong’s social distancing measures. More details on The Peninsula webpage.
- Hong Kong Arts Festival
The Hong Kong Arts Festival is celebrating its 50th Year. They have a great programme of events lined up for 2022.
We are happy to see some Irish content in the programme with Dead Centre’s ‘To Be a Machine (Version 1.0)’ being streaming live from Dublin featuring Game of Thrones actor Jack Gleeson. The participation in HKAF is supported by the Arts Council Ireland and Culture Ireland. You can find more details here.
Also, don’t forget to tune into our St Patrick’s Day Interactive Event on Thursday at 18:30 where we will be giving away tickets to this one of a kind performance.
- Macao
While we haven’t been able to travel to Macao for two years, we are thinking of our small community there at this time of year. In this regard:
- We thank the Macao authorities for their support in marking St Patrick’s Day by “illuminating in green” for the 8th year the Ruins of St Pauls.
- We understand that our good friends in Duffys and The Roadhouse will mark St Patrick’s Day in line with the prevailing social distancing measures in Macao.
- Media
Finally, we have a modest media presence this week:
- Wednesday 16 March (09:30–13:00), tune into hear Colin Touchin talk about Irish Classical music on RTHK3’s Morning Brew programme.
- On Thursday 17 March (10:10), I will speak to Phil Whelan on RTHK3 to discuss St Patrick’s Day traditions.
- My recent podcast with Gavin Morgan on PropNX will be available on Thursday 17 March. In it I talk about the Irish story behind some of Hong Kong’s iconic property locations.
Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig – Happy St Patrick’s Day - 聖博德日快樂
David Costello
Consul General