Dublin Chinese New Year Festival

About

DCNYF is a programme of the City Arts Office, part of the Culture, Community & Recreation Department of Dublin City Council (Chief Executive Owen P. Keegan, Assistant Chief Executive Brendan Kenny). The work of the Arts Office is made possible by the support of the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Críona Ní Dhálaigh, and the members of Dublin City Council.

Established in 2008, the Dublin Chinese New Year Festival (DCNYF) year-on-year celebrates, promotes and deepens the understanding of the Sino/Irish relationship.  2016 will celebrate The Year of the Monkey and marks the 9th year of this internationally recognised festival. With Chinese New Year’s Day falling on Monday 8th of February 2016 the festival plans to deliver a high profile cultural and celebratory programme to mark this significant date in the Chinese Calendar. Dublin will also continue to build on its twinning agreement with Beijing signed in 2011 and Dublin Airport Authority twinning with Beijing Airport established in 2013.

The DCNYF works closely with an Advisory Panel made up of the following:

Dr. Isabella Jackson: Assistant Professor in Chinese History, Trinity College Dublin.
Xingyuan Liu:  President, Chinese Students & Scholars Association.
Dr Yupeng Liu: Dublin Institute of Technology.
Howard Pau: Honorary President, Chinese Society of Ireland.
Mary Redfern: Curator of East Asian Collections, Chester Beatty Library.
Jianwei Wang: President, Chinese (Bei Fang) Business Association In Ireland.
Liming Wang: Director, UCD Confucius Institute for Ireland.
Yong Wu: General Secretary, Irish Fujian Business Association, Irish Fujian Association

H.E. Jianguo Xu, Chinese Ambassador to Ireland
H.E. Jianguo Xu, Chinese Ambassador to Ireland

The Chinese New Year, also known as “Spring Festival” and “Lunar New Year”, is the most important traditional festival for the Chinese across the globe.  Each and every year, this time-honoured festival is celebrated by hundreds of millions of people as a joyous occasion for homecoming, family reunion, friendship renewal, and exchanging good wishes and blessings for health and happiness.

2016 is a Year of the Monkey.  Partly because of the charming and captivating character Monkey King in “Journey to the West”, a well-known and hugely popular 16th-century classic Chinese mythological novel, the Monkey is adored in the Chinese culture as an auspicious animal of kindness, faithfulness, resourcefulness, and humour.

On this special occasion, as Chinese Ambassador to Ireland, I join my fellow Chinese in this country in wishing Ireland and the Irish people peace and prosperity, and wishing for continued development and new progress in the friendly China-Ireland relations.

On this special occasion, my wife Ni Li and my Embassy colleagues join me in wishing members of the Chinese community here, as well as people of other ethnic origins, a joyful and fruitful Year of the Monkey.

 

Michael D. Higgins, Uachtaran na hÉireann, President of Ireland
Michael D. Higgins, Uachtaran na hÉireann, President of Ireland

I am delighted to send my best wishes to all members of the Chinese community in Ireland as you celebrate the commencement of the Year of the Monkey.

In the Chinese zodiac the Monkey is a symbol of good fortune and is characterised by its inventiveness, imagination and resourceful nature. 2016 is an important year of commemoration here in Ireland, and also a year when we look to ever more purposefully and confidently into our future as a progressive, fully inclusive and modern nation. This year of the Monkey is a valuable reminder of the positive contribution the Chinese community make to Irish society, and the important role you will in crafting such a shared future; one which all our citizens can flourish.

May I wish you all a happy and prosperous new year.

Paul Kavanagh, Ambassador of Ireland to the People’s Republic of China
Paul Kavanagh, Ambassador of Ireland to the People’s Republic of China

I am delighted to have the opportunity to welcome you to this highlight of Dublin’s annual events calendar and testament to the strength of the relationship between China and Ireland, and between our two capital cities Beijing and Dublin.

The Year of the Monkey – with its characteristic smartness and agility – comes at an exciting time for relations between our two countries, governments and peoples.

Over the past year we have had high profile visits in both directions including the visit of Premier Li Keqiang to the west of Ireland in May and the visits of Ministers Kelly, Bruton and O’Sullivan to China in March, September and October respectively. These highlighted the strong political relations between our two countries as well as our growing links in trade, investment, agriculture, education, science and technology, culture and tourism. We look forward to an even greater 2016 and expect that Dublin will continue to play a full part.

My congratulations to all who have been involved in the festival – to the City Council and especially to the Chinese community in Dublin. My best wishes to all who come to enjoy the celebrations.

Críona Ní Dhálaigh, Lord Mayor of Dublin
Críona Ní Dhálaigh, Lord Mayor of Dublin

As Lord Mayor and First Citizen of Dublin, I would like to extend my best wishes for a Happy New Year to all members of the Chinese Community in Ireland. Dublin City is proud to be hosting the 9th year of this festival and to mark this significant date in the Chinese Calendar.

We look forward to ringing in The Year of the Monkey during this very special year of commemorations – Ireland 2016.  We very much welcome and invite all residents and visitors to join the celebrations, share your memories and stories of your time in Dublin.

Equally we  encourage the continuation of the development of our cultural and business relations with Beijing in celebration of our twinning.

I wish our Chinese friends here and all over the world a very Happy New Year and hope 2016 will bring everyone good health and good fortune!

Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh.

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