Ireland and Canada to underline close cultural bond
The memorial for the SS Laurentic
A recent RTÉ documentary on the people of Newfoundland revealed that many of them relate more to Ireland, the country of their forebears, than to Canada, the country of their birth. This curious programme, in which many of those interviewed wore their Irish hearts very much on their sleeves, underlined, once again, that while you can travel away in any direction from the oul’ sod, before too long you’ll run into someone who’ll bring you full circle.
And so, next weekend (Fri 27th Jan & Sat 28 Jan) the links between the eastern face of Canada and the north western tip of Ireland will be renewed, as a group of high profile Canadians make what has now become something of an annual pilgrimage to Inishowen, the northernmost tip of Co. Donegal.
This time, it’s not only to retrace the journeys taken by thousands of Irish people to the eastern face of Canada in times past (a journey, regretably, which is now becoming a common feature once again), but to commemorate the loss of lives which came about in one of the greatest maritime disasters to ever strike these shores.
The SS Laurentic was built at the turn of the 20th century at the same Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast as her more illustrious cousin the Titanic. Converted into an armed merchant cruiser for military use during World War 1, the Laurentic struck two mines off Fanad Head, on the northern coast of Donegal, on January 25th 1917, with the loss of 354 of the 475 men on board.
The ship’s final journey was to have seen her sail to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and she was also carrying 35 tonnes of gold bullion to pay for munitions to defeat Germany. While most of the gold was recovered after the war, some of it remains on the sea bed to this day.
This 4th annual Laurentic Conference, which takes place on Friday next January 27th at the Inishowen Gateway Hotel in Buncrana, will underline the continuing links between both countries. The following day, a wreath laying ceremony will take place to commemorate the lives of those lost. Among those in attendance will be the Canadian Ambassador to Ireland, Loyola Hearn, Paul Loftus, President, Montreal Chapter, Ireland-Canada Chamber of Commerce, and several representatives of key business and cultural entities aiming to develop the relationship between both sides of the Atlantic.
According to Don McNeill, Chairman of the Ulster Canada Initiative (UCI), “the main mandate will be to focus on ways to make new connections and identify business and tourism opportunities and cultural links across the Atlantic.”
To that end, businesses in sectors like tourism, information technology & fish processing have begun to build relationships with their Canadian counterparts, and plans are being developed in other areas too. With nearby Derry set to become the European City of Culture in 2013, and the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention (NAFCo) taking place in the region in mid-2012, there should be plenty of opportunities to develop the cultural links between both countries.
After all, if the Gaelic language is beginning a revival in certain parts of Newfoundland, there’s an argument that the links between Canada and Ireland should be seen in the same light as those of this country and the United States. And at a time where building solid links between Ireland and countries with stable economies has never been as important, new links are being formed with our Canadian cousins, renewing rather than replacing old ones.