Dr. Deirdre Giblin:

I will speak to Irish Heritage Month and perhaps Mr. Collenette might also comment on this. We are very lucky to have met with James Maloney several times. He is the member of parliament in Canada who brought this into being and we have seen that very many countries are following suit so it must have been a great idea. When we were in Canada, we noticed that there was Asian Heritage Month and different types of heritage were covered. We see this very much as a culmination of the work that has been done between the two governments, the chambers, and the trade associations.

This goes back to our earlier point around how the deep relationship historically, culturally and politically between the two countries very much leads to an economic relationship that is very robust but definitely, as we have said earlier, needs a little bit more work potentially around representation and trade from the point of view of Enterprise Ireland, EI, and IDA Ireland consuls in different parts of Canada. Ms Gilna’s point is very well made around the fact that every part of Canada is different. Her advice is very well given, which is that every region is so different so that in order to do a Canada-Ireland relationship service, and I know it is a big country, but if the committee is going to go there one must go to see it and make those relationships.

I will invite Mr. Collenette to speak to heritage month from a Canadian-Irish perspective.