Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. Mar a dúirt daoine eile, táimíd ag comóradh 150 blian Dé Sathairn seo, an 13 Meitheamh, breith William Butler Yeats. Guím gach rath ar an bhféile agus tréaslaím an Seanadóir O'Keeffe as an obair iontach atá sí ag déanamh.

I commend Senator O'Keeffe, all of her committee and everyone involved with the Yeats2015 event which aims to celebrate and commemorate the life, work, influence and achievements of W.B. Yeats. It is fitting that there is a celebratory and cultural programme that aims to showcase Ireland as a dynamic, inspiring and creative place.

Sinn Féin welcomes the cultural events that have been planned. I look forward to them, particularly the events in the west. I am especially happy with the work that has been done at Thoor Ballylee. I am pleased that the venue has been reopened and with its programme of events. Senator Healy Eames has also been involved with the project and I extend congratulations to her.

In a previous life I filmed in and around Thoor Ballylee, not about Yeats, but another poet called Antoine Ó Reachtabhra, or Raftery the poet. Before Yeats visited the place, Antoine Ó Reachtabhra wrote about the beauty of the place in his song called Máire Ní hEidhin. In the first verse he said:

'S ag tríall chun aifrinn dom le toil na ngrása,

bhí an lá ag baistigh 'gus d'ardaigh an ghaoth

casadh an bhruinneall dhom le hais Chill Tartan

agus thit mé laithreach í ngrá le mnaoí.

D'umhlaios síos go muinte manla

's do réir a calach do fhreagair sí;

's dúirt an ainnir liom," Béidh m'intinn sásta

agus gluais go lá liom go Baile Uí Lí.

It is probably that kind of inspiration and mysticism in the area that drew W.B. Yeats to the magical place that is Thoor Ballylee.

Yeats2015 is a great moment to celebrate and promote creativity in Ireland, to support the artistic and cultural heritage which emanates from this island, and to help inspire another generations of artists. Now more than ever there needs to be a genuine investment in the arts and to ensure it is meaningful.

William Butler Yeats is not just one of the most omnipresent Irish literary figures, he is also one of the most recognisable, celebrated and feted Irishmen in our history. Yeats endeavoured to encapsulate something of the national character of Ireland. His early works were heavily influenced by the Gaelic revival and he, in turn, influenced that movement through his poetry and plays. The reasons and motivations for Yeats's use of Celtic themes can be understood in terms of the author's sense of Irishness, an overriding personal interest in Celtic mythology and folklore and his keen interest in the occult. Immersing himself in the rich and varied world of Celtic folklore and myth, Yeats contributed to the world of poems and plays that embraced native legends while promoting his own sense of nationalism.

As we all know, Yeats also drew hugely on certain places in his poetry and Sligo was one of the main constants throughout his life's works. Sligo not only gave Yeats a sense of home, it also gave him confirmation of superiority of scenery and artistic sensibilities. The serenity and beauty of Sligo also had a huge influence on Jack Butler Yeats who dedicated many paintings to the area, including Leaving the Far Point, The Sea and the Lighthouse and The Metal Man. Therefore, it is great to see that Yeats2015 will focus events to take place in Sligo, Galway and across the globe.

In Yeats's later works, particularly around the revolutionary period, his poetry and plays became full of the intensity of his emotional experience during that period. They are often a subtle insight into his assessment of that revolutionary time. His play "Cathleen Ni Houlihan" was one of the great pieces of nationalist writing of the time. As Yeats said himself in an interview published in the United Irishman: "My subject is Ireland and its struggle for independence."

In December 1923, Yeats became the first Irish person to be awarded a Nobel Prize in literature. He was keenly aware of the symbolic value of an Irish winner. The award prompted him to write the following to Sir John O'Connell: "I consider that this honour has come to me less as an individual than as a representative of Irish literature, it is part of Europe's welcome to the Free State."

Yeats's first major collection of poetry, in the aftermath of winning the Nobel Prize, was called The Tower. The collection was a supreme achievement and has been hailed as one of the most important books of the 20th century. Next door to the Oireachtas is housed the National Library's fantastic exhibition on the life and works of William Butler Yeats where many of the notes and works of Yeats are on display.

Yeats's work, as a Senator, was commendable and I hope that Yeats2015 will highlight that part of his life. In the Seanad, Yeats operated as a true Independent. He was political but detached from parties. His commitment to theatre and the arts followed him into the political sphere. He worked to make the Abbey Theatre the first state-endowed theatre in any English-speaking country. The Seanad of Yeats's day was able to initiate legislation. Yeats took advantage of that situation to try to recover the Hugh Lane paintings for Ireland.

Yeats was also true to his independence in the Seanad. He railed against the banning of divorce and claimed that it would alienate Irish Protestants from the State. He also famously weighed in against the new censorship laws against immorality in literature that were being brought in under the Free State.

It is William Butler Yeats's commitment to the arts for which he is most celebrated and remembered, and it is his commitment that I am sure we will all celebrate in the coming year. Yeats2015 is an opportunity to bring arts and culture closer to the people. I look forward to attending the events of Yeats2015 and I hope it enjoys great success.

We can all be a little bit parochial on these occasions. Therefore, I shall recite a poem that springs to mind when I think of Yeats. It is his poem "At Galway Races" which reads:

There where the course is,

Delight makes all of the one mind,

The riders upon the galloping horses,

The crowd that closes in behind:

We, too, had good attendance once,

Hearers and hearteners of the work;

Aye, horsemen for companions,

Before the merchant and the clerk

Breathed on the world with timid

Breath.

Sing on: somewhere at some new moon.

We'll learn that sleeping is not death,

Hearing the whole earth change its tune,

Its flesh being wild, and it again

Crying aloud as the racecourse is,

And we find hearteners among men

That ride upon horses.

Guím gach rath ar an bhféile.