Impassioned speeches from contemporary Irish voices

Although slightly off-topic, I think many Irish family historians, especially those supportive of the artistic and cultural tradition of Ireland, will be interested in this unusual up-coming online event hosted by the Centre Culturel Irlandais (CCI) in Paris. The event is called Addresssing The Nation, and it will be held over four evenings in the next fortnight. Here's how CCI explain and describe it:

"Worldwide, 2020 was the year of the televised address of the nation, with diligent speech-writers working in over-drive, constructing emotive speeches which have both reinforced our awareness of the fragility of human existence and inspired altruistic acts of humanity. New language has been developed to describe new circumstances. Unfamiliar words have become common currency.

"To mark the beginning of a New Year and look forward, we hope, to an era post-COVID-19, the CCI has commissioned 40 artists to address the world with their reflections on the times in which we live: choreographers, theatre makers, writers, musicians, visual artists and filmmakers convey their values, their preoccupations, their anger and frustrations as well as messages of courage, joy, gratitude, desire and aspiration in this month of January. These voices from Ireland need to be heard!"

The addresses will be broadcasted on 20, 21, 27 and 28 January at 8pm French time/ 7pm Irish time. Ten 3-minute addresses will be delivered each evening in English (with subtitles) and you'll find brief details of the speakers on the CCI website here.

To receive a link for each evening, register here or watch live on the CCI homepage or YouTube channel.