Connecting the Dots with Gabriel Byrne
UPDATED: Watch two videos with Gabriel Byrne’s speech at the Gateway Ireland event on 26th May in Dublin:
“We are who we were. We will be what we imagine.” –Gabriel Byrne
The Cultural Ambassador for Ireland demonstrated why he was chosen for the job yesterday in Dublin when he presented at the Gateway Ireland meeting before an invitation-only group of industry representatives and interested artists. Gabriel Byrne’s speech generated a very positive response (irishauthor tweeted “Seems Gabriel the Good played a blinder”) and the Twitterverse was full of praise for his authentic story and lots of questions about the nature of the project.
Here is a snapshot of the day’s activities, including news reports, audio, videos, images, and tweets.
1. IrishTimes.com: Generations of emigrants neglected, says cultural envoy Gabriel Byrne
Addressing a seminar organised by the Gateway Ireland Project, which seeks to unite the Irish diaspora through a global website, he said it was an “exciting development” which could help bridge the understanding between Irish people who live at home and those who live abroad.
Irish-Americans had a “fractured sense of identity”. They knew our past and shared the same history but there was a “disconnect” between the island of Ireland and those of Irish ancestry who lived abroad. “We are survivors, we have survived for a great extent through the people who went away,” he added.
Byrne told the gathering that the word “diaspora” meant the scattering of seeds in Greek which implied a flowering, but Ireland had “forgotten about the seeds that had gone away”.
“The seeds that have gone away have never forgotten about Ireland because Ireland is not just a place, it is a state of mind, it is part of your soul that you belong to,” he explained.
“Don’t worry, ladies. It’s just Dublin’s sun shining extra brightly on my hair
- it is still black!”
2. Twitter:
Gabriel Byrne beautiful speech. Self identification w/ Irish narrative creates community, restoring the Irish spirit. Start with art. #gwirl (tweeted by amcavinchey)
“We are what we were. We will be what we imagine” great quote from Gabriel Byrne, Irish Cultural Ambassador to US at #gwirl (Retweeted by many, many people)
NoreenBowden tweeted the entire event #gwirl and will post about it in detail soon.
You can read a running account by searching #gwirl in Twitter and going back to the beginning of the day, May 26. You will find tons of links, opinions, and observations about the project–and some consternation as well.
3. News reports about the Gateway Ireland Project
IrishTimes.com: New website for Ireland to be launched
RTE Business: Gateway Ireland Bringing Ireland to the World
Breakingnews.IE: Ireland to launch website promoting country
4. Video of two speeches (not GB’s) provided in “shaky-cam” by Darragh Doyle:
5. Discussion about the project at Web2Ireland, with a technologically savvy response.
6. Official lists of the Advisory Board membership and the schedule for the day’s events, provided by darraghdoyle.
7. Official website for Gateway Ireland : Connecting the Dots. A website connecting Ireland to the World and the World to Ireland, including a page about Guest Speaker Gabriel Byrne:
What can Gateway Ireland do for you?
The Gateway Ireland Project’s proposal for a national website, spearheaded by the private sector and supported by government, will harness the potential of the Irish Diaspora and provide a unique central hub for the promotion of Ireland to the wider world.
What specific things would you like the website to do for you/your organisation?
Visit the online form and tell them!
8. At the end of the afternoon, Gabriel Byrne joined Drivetime‘s Mary Wilson for an interview at RTE One’s studios. You can listen to the full interview below.
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During the conversation Cultural Ambassador Byrne revealed that he will be curating Irish art exhibitions next year at the MoMA, Lincoln Center and Morgan Library & Museum in New York. These exhibitions will be designed to travel across the USA in 2011. “My job is to bring together the arts, culture and business,” said Gabriel.
Connecting the dots: Ambassador Byrne and his Moleskine notebook (Jason Clarke)
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at 5:49 PM
Dear Gabriel I heard your RTE interveiw on drive time and was blown away at your vision of our indiginous artists and the impact they have globally I have been campaigninig on a quiet level for years and havent let them beat me yet. I like you would like to assist in any wau I can and would be priviliged to assist you our ambassador in any way i can , it is imperitive we drive a positive message to our islanders and that all businesses must assist i n tourism and give our American relatives good value for money , we must also keep prices down even if we do start to pull through as we must learn that exoberent rates bring disgruntled tourists, At your service AMBASSADOR
at 7:05 PM
As usual, great reporting factorygirl and stella. Thank you for keeping my soul nourished!
at 9:44 PM
You are most welcome, twomoons.
And, fearful as I might be of “teasing,” I should tell you that Gateway Ireland says there will be video posted to YouTube (or possibly elsewhere. We must wait and see) in a few days. We will, of course, add links as soon as they become available!
at 3:38 AM
Thanks for sharing these news.
I am really very impressed by the work Gabriel is doing.
He is such a creative and hard working man. Ireland must be
very proud to have an ambassador like him. The world needs more
people like him, people that can lead other with their visions
and their creative mind.
at 4:40 AM
What beautiful pictures and beautiful words I have received today in the Home Page.
Thanks a lot for sharing Lara and Stella!!!!
at 6:49 AM
great job girls ! really nice picture
at 10:10 AM
What a wonderful speech. Makes me wish I was Irish. Actually, I think I am, maybe 1/64? I like to think I have some connection to him. Hope he has great success in his endeavors.
at 2:44 PM
I just listened to the videos and didn’t want them to end. I do feel that perhaps, at this very moment,he is now doing what he was ‘called’ to do with his life. It just feels like he has arrived; arrived at where he was meant to be, and that all the work that has made him famous was all prep for the journey he is on in his life right now. When I listen to him speak, largely without notes, it all just flows so naturely from his lips. There is only one way you can give a speech like that, and it’s if the content of your message is an intimate part of who you are, and indeed it is. (Hope that doesn’t sound too corney…just how I felt watching it.)
at 4:18 PM
Absolutely, twomoons! This is it. We are watching a culmination. It is awe-inspiring and pretty amazing. I feel corny myself, saying that, but it is true. This next year is going to be something!
at 8:52 PM
Its nice to hear him emphasize Spirituality! I was a bit worried about him a few years ago when he seemed to be veering toward atheism instead. Obviously Mr. Byrne is on a quest, and now that he has a platform besides just his acting career (Cultural Ambassador of Ireland), he can make a real difference in a wider area of the world than before. With such power comes responsibility, and i think he is now wise enough to use this power in helpful ways. Excellent speeches!
at 4:42 AM
I don’t mean to start an argument here, but I don’t think he stopped being spiritual because he felt more atheist. these are not antinomic notion.
at 7:00 AM
Aragarna: my point is that he is emphasizing Spirituality more now, and seems to not to be leaning so much towards atheism as he seemed to be before. I suppose one could be a spiritual atheist – though I would find it hard personally. But, if that is your belief system, of course that is fine. No argument here.
at 5:55 AM
Great speech Mister Byrne.
My sincere congratulations for your words.
at 9:02 AM
For me it was clear, the spirituality Gabriel Byrne was talking about is one of non-religious nature, he was emphatic about that himself. He was talking about the “spirit of Ireland” as an abstract notion that seem to connect and bring Irish people together even if they are scattered all over the world. It also seems to bring other non-Irish people towards Ireland. For instance, I feel connected to Ireland even though I’ve never been to Ireland, I’m connected to the “Irish spirit” through Irish arts and culture and Irish people I admire and it has absolutely nothing to do with being religious, atheist or anything, really. In a similar fashion, you can connect to other people through love and friendship and again, abstract notions/feelings/inspirations that are not attached to religious or non-religious principles you might have.
at 4:13 PM
I just managed to see these, I was away and Ipad doesn’t allow you to download stuff like Media Player…silly Steve Jobs! I was so frustrAted that I couldn’t watch for the last 2 dyas! Anyway, my grandfather was Irish (from Drogheda, about 60 miles North of Dublin and 50 miles south of Belfast,)but sadly I never knew him, his family (my mother and 9 siblings) were raised in Cornwall in the west of England, and I was born in London, and at that time of course, Cornwall was so far away it might as well have been a foreign country, in fact when we went there for our holidays they called us Londeners “fereigners
it took 8 hrs by car down the A1.
The interview was amazing, he spoke with such clarity and vision. Gabriel says he’s a fractured Irishman, but fractured or not fractured, homesick or not homesick, he has said in the past that he does not think of Ireland now, in the same as he knew it as a young man; having gone back to England many times to visit family I believe it is possible that he loves Ireland almost as much (if not more) than he did as a young man, just in a different way,
Gabriel is the Ambassador, and so should he be, long may he reign.
at 9:43 PM
Lara: I’m not talking about religion here either. I’m a confirmed agnostic. And, my Spirituality has literally saved my life. To me, the connections I feel, the Love I feel is my definition of God, or Goddess if you will. And, I don’t expect anyone else to have these same definitions, and I definitely do not consider it a creed or religion.
My point is, I’m so glad that Mr. Byrne now seems to be feeling much more connected Spiritually.
at 4:58 AM
Hello girls,
I just wanted to say that only 10 years ago Gabriel Byrne claimed, in the special contents of the dvd Stigmata, “…I am catholic”…
It is very strange to me that he passed form this to atheism, what happend to him in these years??
at 11:22 AM
Well, Elisabetta, I cannot speak for Mr. Byrne, but I can say for myself: I was an observant religious person for many years, then I lost my parents. Having no children, I wandered away from it all. Now I am just a nice person (most of the time). I think these things happen. Check out some of the more recent articles on our website and I think you will learn more about Mr. Byrne’s spiritual evolution over these last years….
at 2:31 AM
Bit late coming in on this post, but just to say that Gabriel is a breath of fresh air when it comes to Irelands relationship with it’s diaspora. His words are genuine and he is totally in tune with the way things are and with what needs to be done. A great ambassador.
at 1:46 PM
Hi, Mick!
You are never too late to comment on his excellency, the Ambassador!
And I’m glad to hear you say he is “in tune” with the diaspora. I have that feeling, too.
There is more on the homepage now about the launch of Imagine Ireland today. We are all pretty excited, as you might guess. This is going to be a great year for Gabriel and for the Irish arts, here in the US and in Ireland. As someone on Twitter just said: Go Team Ireland!