A new stamp celebrating the European Year of Intercutural Dialogue in Ireland was launched at an event in Dublin Castle on 07 March. At the event, the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI) and the Chester Beatty Library, in partnership with Draiocht Theatre, showcased an intercultural arts project for primary schools in Dublin titled Tell Your Story.
The project, which is part of EY/ID 08, is devised to provide positive arts experiences around storytelling for children from diverse backgrounds. It centres on the idea of creating a box of keepsakes. Each child participating will tell the story of collecting their keepsakes and these stories will be recorded and edited into a DVD memoire for the children and their school.
At the event in Dublin Castle, a group of primary school children participated in a story telling session which introduced them to a number of precious objects from the historical Chester Beatty Library in Dublin Castle. Ambassador for the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008, Catherine Joyce, spoke at the event and welcomed both initiatives. “Story telling forms a central part of Traveller culture in Ireland, it is part of our cultural heritage and as Ireland becomes more culturally and ethnically diverse, it will continue to be an important form of expression of our identity, both old and new.” “The Traveller community also welcomes the launch of a stamp which celebrates all ethnic diversity in Ireland, “said added, “As our society is rapidly changing and work is done to assist the integration of new communities, we need to ensure that Travellers are not excluded from this process.
Minister of State for Integration, Conor Lenihan T.D. also spoke at the event “I am delighted to be here and to launch this stamp which recognises and celebrates the valuable resource that diversity brings to our society.”
Philip Watt, Director of NCCRI said: ‘”The launch of the stamp gives a very visible sign of a commitment to promoting intercultural dialogue in Ireland where both diversity and the need to live together in a shared space are valued.”
