Ms Ann Marie Ní Ghallacóir:

In January 2012, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann made the historic decision to bring Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann to Derry from 11 to 18 August 2013. This is the first time the fleadh has ever been hosted north of the Border. This decision has brought a raft of benefits not only to the North of Ireland, but to the entire island.

During our bid process we had cross-party and cross-Border support for Derry. The fleadh ceoil is seen as an extremely significant cultural event in its own right, but it is also part of a wider city of culture project that is happening in our city this year. We see the fleadh as an opportunity to develop genuine cross-community and cross-Border reconciliation and to build civic unity. The fleadh ceoil has enable reconciliation on a level that has not been able to be achieved through political, social or economic means. Music and culture have enable us to build bridges with people who might not necessarily want to engage otherwise.

Progress so far has been extremely positive. We established a community relations subgroup, including a cultural forum which brought together both traditions and others for the first time, to discuss how we can use the fleadh to bring communities together. We also established a stakeholders forum, where we bring together wider society to talk through some of the issues. The fleadh ceoil has made a bold statement in the context of its venues, through the significant use of Ebrington Square, which is a former British military army base in Derry which until recently was not available for the use of the community. We have also taken the decision to use the Apprentice Boys Memorial Hall and St. Columbs Cathedral in order to embrace all communities in our city.

We have had very significant participation of the Londonderry bands forum in discussions around events connected to the fleadh ceoil. This is the first time this forum has ever engaged with any cultural group outside of its own forum. We believe significant progress can be made, both during the fleadh and afterwards in terms of reconciliation. Go raibh míle maith agaibh.