Fleadh will strengthen ties across border: Irish President

Speaking in Londonderry at the launch of the Fleadh on Sunday, he said: “There can be no doubt of the power of the Fleadh in reminding us of how our music, song and dance binds us as a people with a shared heritage and culture, connects us to a large Diaspora who have brought that heritage to many other parts of the globe and who have, in turn, reflected that culture back to us in new, fresh and exciting variations.”

He said the Fleadh was always a significant event but this year it was especially so.

“This year’s Fleadh has, of course, a special historical significance as it marks the strengthening of ties across a land boundary that was, for so many years, synonymous with distrust and differing historical perspectives that divided communities, families and societies for many years,” he said.

He mentioned that Londonderry has been undergoing a process of reinvention over recent years and that the hosting of the Fleadh in the city would accelerate this process.

“Derry-Londonderry has borne more than its fair share of the burden of a divisive past. In recent years it has transcended this past by rebuilding, renewing and re-imagining the Maiden City,” he said.

“It has risen to the challenge of freeing itself from the burden of a divisive history and – has done so – by working to create a new and vibrant society; a society that engages with the past through a pluralism of narratives and that looks to the future with hope and confidence, with a proud sense of identity that generously includes all the cultural traditions that share this wonderful city.

“Culture provides a platform on which we seek to construct and perhaps even deconstruct the various concepts of identity.”