Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Before I read the Commencement, I welcome to the Distinguished Visitors Gallery the ambassador from Italy. He is most welcome. Today marks Italy's Republic Day, the establishment of the Republic of Italy in 1946. The Irish and the Italians have a great shared history of emigration. We are known as builders of nations, in particular in the United States of America. Migration between our two countries has been going on for thousands of years. Irish monks, led by Columbanus, founded a monastery near Genoa in the 7th century. There is a strong Italian-Irish community here, dating back to the 19th and early 20th centuries, and strong links to the homeland near Valle di Comino in Frosinone province near Rome, which is where all our fish and chips experts come from. There are approximately 50,000 Italians living in Ireland at present. Italian companies employ more than 1,600 people here and since 2020 we have an Italian-Irish Chamber of Commerce.

Last year marked the 700th anniversary of the death of the father of the Italian language, Dante, who was a giant of world literature and is famous for The Divine Comedy. This year, Ireland and Italy share the celebrations of the centenary of the publication of James Joyce's seminal work, Ulysses. Joyce was at heart a Dubliner but spent 15 years in Trieste and was a pioneer of modernism. During his time, he was a giant of the Italian literary scene and was a close friend of the best known writer of the 20th century, Italo Svevo. Italy's day is known as Festa della Repubblica. I wish the ambassador and all the Italians living here in Ireland a happy republic day. I thank the ambassador for being with us. I also thank colleagues for being here.