THE REPUTATION OF IRELAND IN FRANCE
GIS EIRE Research Strand : Irish Diaspora, Economy, Migration, Integration
The Reputation of Ireland in France
CONTENTS
Gráinne O’Keeffe-Vigneron (Université Rennes 2) Executive Summary 5
Gráinne O’Keeffe-Vigneron (Université Rennes 2) Introduction 8
Vanessa Boullet (Université de Lorraine) Ireland and France’s Economies Post-Brexit : Stronger Together 11
Julien Guillaumond (Université Clermont-Auvergne) The Reputation of Ireland in France : Are Old Clichés Withering Away Among Young French People ? 22
Anne Groutel (Université Paris 1) Survey on the Atitudes towards Ireland among University Students in France 30
Erick Falc’her-Poyroux (Université de Nantes) The “Reel-Thing” Beyond the Diaspora: Deterritoralising Irish Music in France 43
Laurent Daniel (Université Bretagne Sud) The Diffusion of Gaelic Games in France 55
Future Project 70
Notes on Contributors 76
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
CHARTS
Chart 1: Percentage of Students who have been to Ireland 31
Chart 2 : General Opinion about Ireland 32
Chart 3 :Irish University Awareness 33
Chart 4 : Percentage of Students Interested in Studying in Ireland 33
Chart 5 : Opinion about the Irish Economy 35
Chart 6 : Irish Product Awareness 37
Chart 7 : Would Advise to Invest in the Irish Economy 38
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
APPENDICES
Appendix 1
Cohort Size and Gender Together with Successive Filters 71
Appendix 2
Survey Structure and Questions (in French) 72
Appendix 3 74
Appendix 4
Source of Knowledge (by reply preference) 75
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Gráinne O’Keeffe-Vigneron
BUSINESS
-General awareness of Irish businesses in France is low. -French companies are looking for suppliers and business partners. Building trust is essential for establishing long-term relationships. -Some Irish companies are increasingly doing business in France; data centres, insurance and fintech pharmaceutical/ life sciences, medtech sectors or contribute to the development of “smart cities”. -Irish firms are smaller and more flexible and innovative and can provide tailored solutions for niche markets. -Concentration on clusters which are present in France and Ireland, especially biotech and agrifood industry, with the support of Entreprise Ireland/IDA. -Services are a strong asset of Irish trade and could be further developed towards France. -Consideration of a new focus on large French SMEs, especially on Ireland’s strong clusters, as multinationals have long been the focus of Ireland with significant success but also a risk of decreasing returns. Work with Entreprise Ireland and IDA in Paris and Lyon. -French nationals in Ireland are not numerous (under 5,000 people), still it could be interesting to create links through NetworkIrlande (provides the Franco-Irish business community with good networking opportunities), the France Ireland Chamber of Commerce and both Embassies. -The Irish economy was generally seen in a positive manner by French students and considered to be “dynamic” and “liberal”. The low corporate tax rate in Ireland was also mentioned (Université Paris 1 questionnaire). -However, the term “tax haven” was stated a significant number of times so were the adjectives “unstable”, “fragile” and “weak” (Université Paris 1 questionnaire). -Ireland not viewed as a “smart economy” (Université Paris 1 questionnaire). -55.8% were able to name at least one “typically” Irish product, beer and Guinness being the top two (Université Paris 1 questionnaire).
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
EDUCATION
-85% of the respondents had a very good or fairly good image of Ireland (Université Paris 1 questionnaire). -However, students were not very familiar with Irish universities. 57.55% would not consider going to an Irish university as part of their studies as the majority did not consider them among the most prestigious (Université Paris 1 questionnaire). -A significant number simply had no interest in the country and would rather choose another destination (Université Paris 1 questionnaire). -It is important to increase the number of Erasmus programmes with France, especially in a post-Brexit background when French universities and business schools are going to seek other Erasmus English-speaking countries. This would increase exchanges between both countries and develop a young generation of Irish students studying in France and French students studying in Ireland ready to do business with both countries in the future.
IMAGE OF IRELAND
-French students view Ireland very positively (Université Clermont-Auvergne). -Their main source of information on Ireland appears to be strongly correlated with their education since a great majority (80% of respondents) were taught about Ireland at secondary and/or at high schools (Université Clermont-Auvergne). -Old clichés remain strong; Ireland is associated with Saint Patrick, the festive character of the country, pubs and drinks culture, the landscape (Université Clermont-Auvergne). -This young generation is stuck in a rather old perception of what Ireland is (Université Clermont-Auvergne). -A view of Ireland that is positive but static (Université Clermont- Auvergne).
MUSIC AND SPORT
-Music as a cultural reality remains a process driven by amateur practice. -Irish music is widely exported.
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
-The Irish public remains largely unaware of the unparalleled importance of Irish music in its internal and external economy and unaware of the avant-garde nature of the music market in particular and of the cultural agenda as a rule. -Its capacity for integration seems boundless. -Irish music now extends far beyond Ireland often without the diaspora playing a role in it. -The GAA has a large presence in Europe. -There is a local or regional appropriation of the Irish game (Gaelic football essentially). -The ethnic sentiment that pervades the GAA seems to be one of the main reasons behind its success in Europe. -Since 2015, PE teachers in France have been allowed to teach through any sport of their choice and not an approved list. 100 PE teachers offer Gaelic football as part of their curriculum. -Some clubs do not have a single Irish member and many players had no prior interest in Celticism, regionalism or even Ireland for that matter.
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
INTRODUCTION
Gráinne O’Keeffe-Vigneron
Ireland is soon to be the EU’s only English-speaking nation and closer ties with the European continent will be of greater importance in a post- Brexit EU. The departure of the UK from the EU is leading Ireland and France to strengthen their bilateral ties and forge stronger links developing Irish-French relations in the areas of diplomacy, culture and business.
In this report Vanessa Boullet analyses how links between the Irish and French economies could be reinforced. Since the implementation of the economic policy of attracting FDI, Ireland has always had a keen eye on France: In the 1950s, Ireland studied French planning so as to implement a similar policy in the country. Although France was not initially the main target of the FDI strategy, it is now Ireland’s fourth economic partner1. France is Ireland’s sixth largest importer and also Ireland’s sixth largest export partner2. Irish firms are aiming to increase food and drink exports to 1 billion euros in the future3. There are over 400 Irish companies in France with more than 23,000 people employed in Irish-owned companies4. Ireland was recently granted observer status at the 84-country Organisation Internationale de Francophonie, which promotes French linguistic ties. The Franco-Irish Chamber of Commerce represents more than 170 French companies operating in Ireland with tourism between the two nations remaining an important sector5. In a post-Brexit reconfiguration of European trade and business, reinforcing links, partnerships and trade between France and Ireland will be of an even greater importance.
A positive reputation of Ireland in France could be considered as essential if French businesses or French people wish to develop relations or increase exchanges with Ireland be it in business ventures or even through tourism and culture. Through an on-line survey and a questionnaire aimed at Applied Foreign Languages students at the Université Clermont-Auvergne and Economics students at Paris 1,
1 Vanessa Boullet, Ireland’ and France’s Economies Post-Brexit : Stronger Together, (in this report). 2 Ruairi Kavanagh, France and Ireland Work to Strengthen Ties as Brexit Looms, South EU Summit,
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
Julien Guillaumond and Anne Groutel present their findings in this report on the knowledge of these French students concerning Ireland and their opinion of the country and of Irish people.
Julien Guillaumond’s on-line survey was organised at the Université Clermont-Auvergne was available from 13 to 20 January 2020 to 1st year Applied Foreign Languages undergraduate students. The survey was divided into 5 sections firstly identifying the profile of the students. The next section aimed at ascertaining what the students knew about Ireland, then the students were required to associate words/ideas with the country. The remaining sections allowed respondents to develop on their answers. In the end, the cohort consisted of 122 students (98 women, 24 men) aged from 18 to 21. 48% came from the Puy-de-Dôme department, whilst the others came from neighbouring areas, the second largest being Allier, followed by Haute-Loire.
Anne Groutel’s survey was organised from 28-29 November 2019 at the university Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. The questionnaire was made available to 146 students aged 19-22, 57 of whom were studying economics as their major or as part of a double degree course and most of them have a good level in English. The questionnaire aimed at evaluating the general opinion about Ireland of a sample of university students, therefore a young cohort. The students were questioned about their knowledge of Ireland and whether they would consider going there on an Erasmus exchange. The students were also questioned on their awareness of Irish products; their opinion on the Irish economy and whether they would recommend Ireland as an investment location. The findings from this questionnaire were complemented by Anne Groutel who carried out interviews with members of Network Irlande, Entreprise Ireland (France) and Bord Bia (France) aiming to ascertain the reputation of Ireland and its economy in France.
Finally this report ends with articles on Irish music and Gaelic games in France. Erick Falc’her-Poyroux explores the origins of the expansion of an Irish music scene beyond the Irish diaspora, with a particular emphasis on the French case, before evoking the significance of the French summer schools. He analyses the large-scale adjustments that have transformed Irish music into a global phenomenon while Ireland itself seems eager to reterritorialise its cultural creativity. According to the author, music is one of Ireland’s greatest natural resources.
Laurent Daniel examines the presence of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) on continental Europe and more particularly in France. On continental Europe (including the Channel Islands), the GAA has
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The Reputation of Ireland in France recorded its strongest growth in recent history. While there was one club in 1978 on the continent, in 2019 this had increased to 87. Changing migration patterns of Irish citizens within the EU has meant that those Irish people playing Gaelic games tend to be well-educated, usually with a university degree, have chosen to emigrate and often plan to return to Ireland once having gained valuable experience abroad. Laurent Daniel also considers the presence of Gaelic games in regions sharing a common Celtic heritage with Ireland but also regions with no Celtic heritage but possessing a strong regional sense of identity. In addition, the appeal of Gaelic games even beyond the Irish diaspora is analysed with some clubs having no Irish players. In 2018-2019, out of 804 players in the Fédération Française de Football Gaélique only 64 were Irish citizens.
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
IRELAND’S & FRANCE’S ECONOMIES POST- BREXIT: STRONGER TOGETHER?
Vanessa Boullet
When the Irish economy was in the doldrums in the 1950s, Sean Lemass (Irish Tánaiste, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Industry and Commerce) and T. K. Whitaker (Secretary of the Department of Finance) decided to develop the economy, with a stronger focus on two dimensions: education to increase the skills of the workforce and encouraging foreign direct investment (FDI)6.
These two dimensions remain as valid as ever, with the global economy being more and more a knowledge economy. The Irish education system is now strong and there is no more catching up to do. Still, in order to increase trade and partnerships with France, Irish universities, colleges and institutes could increase the number of Erasmus programmes with France. Indeed, in a post-Brexit strategy, many French universities and business schools are going to seek other Erasmus English-speaking countries to send their students on study abroad programmes for 6 months or one year. This strategy would increase the pool of Irish students studying in France and French students studying in Ireland, more likely to do business in both countries once they graduate.
Attracting FDI requires constant effort, as this strategy has been applied by many countries, competing for the attention of investors. Back in the 1950s, the Irish government decided to target overseas firms, from the United States and also from Europe: especially Germany, the Netherlands and France. France was chosen for many reasons. First, Ireland and France joined the same organisations such as the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) when it came into being in 1948. The European organisation wanted to promote
6 “Direct investment is a category of international investment that, based on an equity ownership of at least 10%, reflects a lasting interest by a resident in one economy (the direct investor) in an enterprise resident in another economy (the direct investment enterprise). A direct investment relationship can exist between a number of affiliated enterprises whether the linkage involves a single chain or a number of chains. It can extend to a direct investment enterprise's subsidiaries, sub-subsidiaries and associates. Once the direct investment relationship is established, all subsequent financial flows between the related entities are recorded as direct investment transactions.” Central Statistics Office Ireland Websiteb (CSO), https://www.cso.ie/en/interactivezone/statisticsexplained/internationalaccountsexplaine d/whatisfdi/ (retrieved on 23/11/2020).
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The Reputation of Ireland in France economic co-operation and develop trade between members. Second, France and Ireland implemented similar policies: T.K. Whitaker studied French indicative planning and Jean Monnet’s programmes of development. From 1956 onwards, T.K. Whitaker was in contact with Jean Monnet’s team in France to write Economic Development and the Programme for Economic Expansion. Likewise, the collaboration between the French and Irish governments reached its peak in 1962 when Pierre Massé went to Dublin with a French team to help the Department of Finance to draw up the Second Programme for Economic Expansion7. Third, both economies shared many similarities after World War II: agriculture was still a very important sector in both economies and they had a similar proportion of services in their economies (both countries under 40% in 1960)8.
The Irish government tried to attract FDI from the USA, the United Kingdom and Germany. Ireland initially tried to attract American firms. For example, in 1953, Seán Lemass invited American investors to visit Ireland. On August 1st, 1955, invited by the Irish government, the Governor from New York visited Dublin9. In 1956, William Norton, Tanaiste and Minister for Industry, went to the USA and met many American industrialists . West Germany was the second targeted country. On August 2nd, 1955, William Norton, met the Vice-Chancelor from West Germany in Bonn and announced the visit of a team of Irish experts to West Germany in fall 1955 made up of James Beddy, president of the IDA and John Leydon, economic advisor of the Department for Industry 10 . When William Norton came back from Germany, he declared that other teams of experts would be sent to other European countries and mainly to the Netherlands and Sweden11. In February and March 1956, a team was also sent to Great-Britain to meet the Federation of British industry.
7 Interview with T. K. WHITAKER, 13 juillet 2004. L’ESRI et l’Institute of Public Administration organisent en 1962 un séminaire sur la planification française 8 R. O'CONNOR, “Employment Creation and Unemployment Problems in Ireland in the 1980s”, JSSISI, vol. XXIV, Hhttp://www.tara.tcd.ie/bitstream/2262/3702/1/jssisiVolXXIVPartV_73103.pdfH (04/04/08) 9 “New York governor arrives in Ireland”, The Irish Press, 01 August 1955 10 “Mission to Germany, Irish industrial experts to leave in autumn, firms invited to set up plants here”, The Irish Press, 2 August1955 11 Especially in Sweden and the Netherlands. The team is composed of D. T. Regand (Coras Trachtala Teoranta (CTT)), M. J. Killeen (CTT, was later in charge of the IDA), and D. Archer, T. P. Hughes and J. Henry. Exporters Newsletter, n°3, 3rd quarter 1956.
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
In 1959, J. B. O’Driscoll, former president of the Federation of Irish Industry was sent to France and again to Germany to attract European firms in Ireland but without much success:
“I have been one of those who have approached foreign firms in Germany and France, and spoken to them about the advantages of coming to Ireland with all those grants in mind. I am sorry to say we have got more refusals than acceptances.”, J. B. O’Driscoll, Irish Industry, February 1959, vol. 27.2, p. 29.
Links between France and Ireland were reinforced, notably with J. C. Tonge who was president of the Federation of Irish Industy between 1959 and 1961 and chiefly CEO of France Irish Food Industries Study Group Ltd, an association of French and Irish firms in the agrifood business12, but France was not the main target. Looking at the number of firms set up between 1960 and 1973, more or less during the three Programmes of Economic Expansion, France is at the bottom of the table with 10 firms for 349 jobs which represent 2% of the number of firms created (USA: 71, UK: 71, Germany: 55, Netherlands: 14, Switzerland and France: 10, Canada: 7, Italy: 4, Belgium: 3)13. From the 1960s to 1977, the IDA had part-time representatives in France (the first permanent offices were in London, Cologne and New York14). It was only in 1977 that the IDA opened a fully-fledged office in France15. From the 1970s to the 2000s, the emphasis was unchanged, with the Paris Office sacrificed when cuts were needed: in the mid-1980s, the IDA office in Paris was closed but an Ireland House, bringing together all Irish State agencies was reopened in Paris in 1989. It was again closed and reopened in 2006, one of 12 offices worldwide at that time. In 2020, the IDA has 33 offices as Ireland decided to implement a programme ensuring offices everywhere in the world.
In 2019, the most important trading partners for Ireland were the European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom, with
12 Paul Bew et Henry Patterson, Seán Lemass, op. cit., p. 134 13 Dermot McAleese, A Profile of Grant-Aided Industry in Ireland, op. cit., p. 21. 14 Dáil Éireann debate, vol. 222, n.6, Tuesday, 3 May 1966, https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1966-05- 03/32/?highlight%5B0%5D=ida&highlight%5B1%5D=ida&highlight%5B2%5D=paris (21/11/2020) 15 Dáil Éireann debate, vol. 309, n.8, Tuesday, 21 November 1978, https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1978-11- 21/24/?highlight%5B0%5D=ida&highlight%5B1%5D=ida&highlight%5B2%5D=ida&hi ghlight%5B3%5D=paris&highlight%5B4%5D=paris&highlight%5B5%5D=ida (21/11/2020)
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The Reputation of Ireland in France exports to EU member states accounting for ca. 48%16. Belgium is the first EU export market with 10.8% of Irish exports (this is due to transfers in the pharmaceutical sector between Ireland and Belgium), followed by the United Kingdom (10.3%), Germany (8.8%), and the Netherlands (5.7%). France is only the 5th partner in Europe and the 8th export market worldwide. The USA is the first export market with 30.6%. China is 5th with 5.7% and Switzerland 7th with 3.7%. Over time, the share of exports to the UK has kept decreasing from 28% in 1993 to 11% in 201817. Exports to the EU (UK excluded) have experienced the same decreasing trend but much slower as it only fell from 44% in 1993 to 39% in 2018 whereas exports to the USA have increased threefold from 9% in 1993 to 28% in 2018, especially since the economic upturn after the 2008 financial crisis18. The value of Irish exports towards France has slightly decreased between 2000 and 2019 (12 to 10 billion euros) whereas the value towards the other main European trading partners has increased (Belgium and Switzerland have each increased more than threefold, the Netherlands doubled, Germany by 65%)19.
France is the 4th economic partner of Ireland. Trade in goods between France and Ireland amounted to €10.9 billion in 2019, 11% more than in 2018. According to French customs, France has a trade deficit of €4.2bn with Ireland, which is widening sharply (+24%), after having been remarkably stable for the past ten years. However, the CSO declared a trade deficit of €6.6 in 2019 (a 8% increase compared to 2018)20. This difference is due to the activities of aircraft leasing, which is not presented the same way in both countries (unlike France, Ireland follows the guidelines of the IMF).
The general trend of Irish exports of goods toward France has been flat since 2002. However there are considerable compositional changes underneath that overall stagnation. Exports towards France are
16 CSO, “Goods Exports and Imports”, statistical release, 16 December 2019, https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/gei/goodsexportsandimportsoctober20 19/ (21/11/2020) 17 CSO, Ireland's Trade in Goods 2018, https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p- ti/irelandstradeingoods2018/tradebyregion1993to2018/ (31/11/2020) 18CSO, Ireland's Trade in Goods 2018, https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p- ti/irelandstradeingoods2018/tradebyregion1993to2018/ (31/11/2020) 19 CSO, “Value of Merchandise Trade by Commodity Group, Country, Year and Statistic” (SA10). 20 Direction Générale du Trésor, Le commerce bilatéral entre la France et l'Irlande en 2019 https://www.tresor.economie.gouv.fr/Pays/IE/le-commerce-bilateral-entre-la-france-et-l- irlande-en-2017 (21/11/2020)
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The Reputation of Ireland in France dominated by the chemical/pharmaceutical sector (€4.3 billion, or 56.5%)21. It grew very strongly in 2019 as French medical services needed equipment. It should be noted that the CSO estimates the value of Irish exports to France at a lower level than the French customs. This difference is largely due to a difference in the treatment of chemical/pharmaceutical products. Indeed, the export circuits of pharmaceutical companies established in Ireland often pass through Britain because it is better equipped with storage units. The CSO may partially account those as exports to the UK. Computer and electronic and consumer products represented 16.3% of exports22. It increased in line with economic growth, but machinery exports have been falling since 2008. In the agri-food sector, exports of meat and dairy products represented Ireland's strong points. As agri-food exports have been growing for the last 20 years, Bord Bia has placed France among the priority markets to be conquered so as to diversify agri-food exports, currently mainly destined for the United Kingdom. Services are also exported to France, steadily increasing from 2005 onwards, notably computer services (49% of services exports), business services (14%) and transport. The financial crisis of 2008 did not slow down the growth of exports of services, which would tend to confirm the potential to increase exports in services to France.
In terms of imports of commodities, the United Kingdom is the first market, followed by the USA (21.3%). France is third with 12.7% followed by Germany (8.5%) and China (6%). In terms of value, between 2000 and 2019, China was the country which experienced the highest growth (a 500% increase), followed by Belgium, Switzerland and the USA (160%). The imports from France have almost trebled (from 23 million to 60 million). Surprisingly, while Ireland increased its imports from its main trading partners between 2000 and 2019, it was not the case between 2000 and 2019 for imports from Great Britain, the only territory to experience a slight fall (66 million in 2000 and 64 million in 2019)23. Northern Ireland also increased by over 30%.
21 Direction Générale du Trésor, Le commerce bilatéral entre la France et l'Irlande en 2019 https://www.tresor.economie.gouv.fr/Pays/IE/le-commerce-bilateral-entre-la-france-et-l- irlande-en-2017 (21/11/2020) 22 Direction Générale du Trésor, Le commerce bilatéral entre la France et l'Irlande en 2019 https://www.tresor.economie.gouv.fr/Pays/IE/le-commerce-bilateral-entre-la-france-et-l- irlande-en-2017 (21/11/2020) 23 CSO, “Value of Merchandise Trade by Commodity Group, Country, Year and Statistic” (SA10).
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
The most imported commodities are in the chemical and pharmaceutical sector where French companies export cosmetics, perfumes, chemical products and pharmaceutical products, very often not yet packaged for retail sale. Here the supply chain of the pharmaceutical multinationals based in Europe comes into play: we may imagine a large flow of capital and goods between multinationals between the Irish biotech cluster and the two French biotech clusters (Ile de France and the Rhones Valley). Transport equipment (aircraft and cars) also figured prominently: France sold nearly €522 million in 2019. French car makers continued to pursue their breakthrough in Ireland. On the other hand, aircraft exports continued to fall in 2019 although they constituted the fourth largest export item to Ireland (6% of exports) with €195 million. Although the dynamism of Irish aircraft leasing companies is not to be questioned, French customs account for the sale of the aircraft in the country of destination and not in that of the rental company. Thirdly, France exported €462 million worth of agricultural and agri-food products. Wine exports remained stable, confirming Irish consumers' taste for French wines. Finally, it is important to note that the exports of computers and peripheral equipment continued to grow exponentially. This is quite surprising as Ireland has many multinationals in this sector. In terms of imports of services (86% of total imports), the most important ones are business services (59%), insurance (18%), tourism and travel (12%) and financial services (6%). From 2011 onwards imports from France skyrocketed. The strong increase is driven by business services, insurance and to a lesser extent financial services. Tourism and travel remain steady.
A large proportion of the manufacturing goods exports are carried out by foreign-owned multinationals (88.7% in 200924), therefore a significant proportion of those exports are likely to be intra-firm transactions. However it is quite difficult to determine whether imports from and exports towards France are done overall by French firms, by Irish firms, or both.
Trade and investment between Ireland and France are flourishing. With a two-way trade relationship worth €25 billion, in a post-Brexit environment, France appears as an even more important trade partner. In Global Ireland. Ireland’s strategy for France 2019-2025: “together in spirit and action”, France is clearly indicated as a main target for the
24 Derry O’Brien and John Scally, “Cost Competitiveness and Export Performance of the Irish Economy”, Quaterly Bulletin, vol. 03, July 2012, https://www.centralbank.ie/docs/default-source/publications/quarterly- bulletins/quarterly-bulletin-signed-articles/cost-competitiveness-and-export- performance-of-the-irish-economy.pdf?sfvrsn=6 (21/11/2020)
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The Reputation of Ireland in France first time. In a post-Brexit strategy, it is quite logical that Ireland tries to reinforce its links with EU trade partners, notably Germany and France25 and other regions in the world (North America, Africa and Asia) in order to rely less on Great Britain:
“the EU will be a different place after the UK departs. Ireland will have lost an important ally on many issues of major national interest. We therefore need to redouble our efforts to build relationships and to deepen our understanding of and our connection with other member states, including ones with which we have traditionally had less extensive engagement.”26
As France is Ireland's 3rd largest market for Irish indigenous company exports (after the US and the UK), and the 4th largest source of inward investment (by number of companies), it is interesting to assess French companies present in Ireland. 63 French companies, half of those in services, are supported by the IDA, employing 8,000 people. However, the number of French firms supported by the IDA is not high compared to other European countries as there are 77 German companies supported by the IDA in Ireland, 13 Belgium firms, 30 firms from the Netherlands and 90 for the British firms, 606 for American firms. So there may be further potential for the IDA to develop its attractiveness in France. Which clusters could be prioritized?
The agritech sector is a high potential industry. Both Ireland and France have decided to develop clusters in this industry as “having companies at the same level together led to them learning a lot from each other”27. A new investment fund dedicated to agriculture and food related technologies, Ireland Agtech fund, was created in Ireland in 201728 to attract agritech companies. Finistere Ventures, a California- based venture capital fund, also invests in agritech startups to promote growth and international development. One could imagine the same
25 Government of Ireland, “Global Ireland Ireland’s Global Footprint to 2025”, p.28 https://www.ireland.ie/media/ireland/stories/globaldiaspora/Global-Ireland-in- English.pdf (21/11/2020) 26 Government of Ireland, “Global Ireland Ireland’s Global Footprint to 2025”, p.28 https://www.ireland.ie/media/ireland/stories/globaldiaspora/Global-Ireland-in- English.pdf (21/11/2020) 27 Patrick Walsh, director of DogPatch and of the Peasr Lyons Accelerator “Dublin Accelerator provides fertile ground for agri-tech starts ups”, Sunday Business, 26/11/2017. https://twitter.com/1250/status/934739435794640896 28 Direction Générale du Trésor, « Veille sur le numérique et les start-ups - Irlande et Royaume-Uni - Septembre 2017 » https://www.tresor.economie.gouv.fr/Articles/2017/09/21/veille-sur-le-numerique-et-les- start-ups-irlande-et-royaume-uni-septembre-2017
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The Reputation of Ireland in France kind of partnership with the French agritech cluster around Paris. Additionally, France could be a market for those Irish start-ups as French agriculture is the second customer of Ireland and its 4th supplier. It could allow French or Irish agrifood tech startups to generate bigger deals than they currently do.
Ireland has been very successful with ICT companies, thanks to its policy in attracting high-tech multinationals. From the 1980s onwards, many manufacturing firms producing computers and computer components came from the US to set up, produce and distribute to EU markets, such as IBM in 1981, Lotus in 1984 and Microsoft in 1985, Intel and its large lab in 199029. As part of efforts to develop an economy which relies more on its indigenous firms, the Irish government decided to develop the knowledge economy by investing more in research. This was quite successful: Ireland’s digital sector accounts for about 13% of Ireland’s GDP30 with Alphabet’s Google setting up headquarters in 2003, Amazon in 2004, Facebook in 2008, Twitter in 2011. It employed over 63,000 people in 201831. Since 2013, Ireland’s digital sector has grown at an average of 12% per annum” However, few indigenous Irish-owned firms have managed to develop in spite of attempts by the Irish government to reverse this trend (such as the Digital Hub in Dublin 8 “the Liberties”). Ireland’s exports towards France in the ICT sector still have potential, if only due to the high growth of the industry and due to a reduced attractiveness of the United Kingdom for US tech companies looking for an English-speaking entry point to the EU. The relationship with France is likely to remain asymmetrical though, as French ICT companies tend to be more attracted to the US, if only to gain access to funding, and the Irish talent pool remains relatively limited to date.
Third, the chemical / pharmaceutical and medtech sectors are very important for the Irish economy. 14 French companies are present in Ireland in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors (23% of French companies in the Republic of Ireland) such as Genzyme (Sanofi), Ipsen,
29 Darrin Bayliss, “Dublin’s Digital Hubris: Lessons from an Attempt to Develop a Creative Industrial Cluster”, European Planning Studies, Vol. 15, No. 9, October 2007, p.5 30 IBEC, “Future Needs, Future Thinking 2020”. https://www.technology- ireland.ie/Sectors/TI/TI.nsf/vPages/About~Press~future-needs,-future-thinking-2020- 04-11-2019/$file/TI+Future+Needs,+Future+Thinking.pdf (21/11/2020) 31 Entreprise Ireland, “Enterprise Ireland launches campaign ahead of St. Patrick’s Day to promote Ireland’s innovative and vibrant digital technology sector to international audiences”, 12 March 2020 https://www.enterprise- ireland.com/en/News/PressReleases/2020-Press-Releases/Enterprise-Ireland-launches- campaign-ahead-of-St-Patricks-Day-to-promote-Irelands-innovative-and-vibrant- digital-technology-sector-to-international-audiences.html (21/11/2020)
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The Reputation of Ireland in France or Servier. This sector has several clusters both in Ireland and France and more partnerships, joint-ventures or trade deals could be signed, leveraging Ireland’s competitive advantages (cost base, taxing schemes etc.). In France, 85,000 people are employed in this sector while 38,000 people work in medtech companies in Ireland 32. France and Ireland have big medtech clusters: the French cluster in the Grand Est area of France regroups the BioValley France (about 150 medtech companies, formerly Alsace biovalley) and the one in Franche-Comté (well-known for its watchmaking skills, about 250 companies around Besançon33). Together, they generated an annual turnover of 932 million euros34. The BioValley France cluster has already forged partnerships with Germany, Belgium, Israel, Switzerland, Canada and the USA to enable exchanges and accelerate the development of innovative health projects 35 . Likewise nine of the world’s top ten medical technology companies are located around Galway. This cluster started in 1973 in Ireland with the first companies being subsidiaries of big US firms36. At the beginning, American subsidiaries only conducted assembly operations. However, over time the Irish facilities moved up the value chain and now undertake R&D and product development activities. Around these clusters, an indigenous medtech industry grew. By 1990, there were 4 Irish medical technology companies in Galway. In 2011, of the 59 medtech companies in the region 21 were foreign-owned and 38 were Irish37. Even though big names are more prestigious, SMEs make up around 95% of the medical technology industry38, thus growth is more likely to come from indigenous Irish SMBs. Moreover, the French market is the second European medical device market (based upon
32 MedTechEurope, “ The European Medical Technology Industry” https://www.medtecheurope.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/The-European-Medical- Technology-Industry-in-figures-2019-1.pdf (21/11/2020) 33 Grand Besançon Developpement, “Besançon, an indispensable partner for the medical industry” https://www.investinbesancon.fr/medtech-biotech-en.html (21/11/2020) 34 MDDI, “The Seven Most Important Medtech Clusters in Europe”, https://www.mddionline.com/seven-most-important-medtech-clusters-europe (21/11/2020) 35 BioValley France, “International”, https://www.biovalley- france.com/fr/pole/international/ (21/11/2020) 36 Today part of Medtronic, Abbott, Merit, and Boston Scientific. 37 MDDI, “The Seven Most Important Medtech Clusters in Europe”, https://www.mddionline.com/seven-most-important-medtech-clusters-europe (21/11/2020) 38 MedTechEurope, “ The European Medical Technology Industry » https://www.medtecheurope.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/The-European-Medical- Technology-Industry-in-figures-2019-1.pdf (21/11(/2020)
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The Reputation of Ireland in France manufacturer revenue) with 15% in 2017 after Germany (27.4%)39. A partnership with BioValley France could be investigated.
Finally, Ireland became a player in the financial services industry when a new hub in the heart of Dublin, the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) was created in 1987. The IFSC has a variety of subsectors within financial services, such as banking, insurance, treasury, asset management payments. Irish firms are quite developed in this cluster as about half of the firms of the fintech cluster are Irish-owned thanks to investment and expansion made carried out by the Irish government. This sector is quite active, especially in the post-Brexit landscape, where European cities are competing to get the biggest share of the pie: so far, for official relocations (as some firms might move staff below the radar), Dublin has attracted almost twice as many firms as Paris (115 relocations to Dublin, 69 to Paris)40. As both countries concentrate on nurturing those newly-acquired businesses, it may be more important to nurture those and to ensure that Ireland facilitates exchanges with this delocalized City (London-Frankfort-Paris-Dublin). It might be interesting to use the networks of French businessmen in Ireland or Irish businessmen in France to ensure collaboration between France- and Ireland-based financial institutions. Nevertheless, as Paris41 and Dublin ranks respectively 24th and 37th worldwide and 5th and 8th on a European scale according to the Global Financial Center Index (GFCI)42, it might be interesting to explore partnerships in niche areas between these 2 cities / clusters to play a more prominent role especially in the post-Brexit reconfiguration. We might also think about securitization and business product outsourcing.
Of course, there might be other collaborations with French firms especially in the machinery and transport equipment with French multinationals based in Ireland such as Airbus, Dassault, Valeo and Veolia where Irish spin-offs could be developed. Once those Irish spin- offs have developed, they could break into the French market, based on their experience with a French manufacturer.
39 MedTechEurope, “ The European Medical Technology Industry » https://www.medtecheurope.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/The-European-Medical- Technology-Industry-in-figures-2019-1.pdf (21/11(/2020) 40 New Financial, “An update on ‘Brexit & the City – the impact so far’”, October 2019 https://newfinancial.org/an-update-on-brexit-the-city-the-impact-so-far/ (21/11/2020) 41 In 2007, the region launched the Finance Innovation competitiveness cluster, with more than 250 members, comprising major companies, SMEs, universities, training and research centers, and various public bodies. 42 https://globalfinancialcentres.net/explore/ (21/11/2020)
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
IDA-supported companies are only the tip of the iceberg as there are also many French SMEs in Ireland. The IDA has so far mostly focused its efforts on large multinationals. However, multinationals have now matured and one is allowed to think that incremental gains are likely to be more limited than in the 1990-2010 period. SMEs could be a target to explore as due to their limited size they may appreciate the relative proximity of Ireland and France and the support they may receive from the IDA, both from a financial point of view and from an operational point of view (“ease of doing business”). Targeting the French SMEs might also be quite interesting as SMEs are a large provider of jobs. The Irish government could also leverage more the 400 Irish companies active in the French market, the over 23,000 people engaged in Irish- owned companies in France, either though Entreprise Ireland, NetworkIrlande, the Franco-Irish business network, which has 90 members and supports links between businesses working closely with the France Ireland Chamber of Commerce.
In a post-Brexit landscape, when trade within the British Isles might fall, France is even more an essential market for Ireland. Ireland needs to carry on its economic strategy of attracting French multinationals in Ireland, but it should also aim at French SMEs as SMEs in France accounted for almost half of the added value in 201943. Clusters are also very important in Europe: every country tries to develop them. In this race, where small clusters are going to disappear, Ireland needs to carry on its strategy towards its strong clusters, including high-tech ones. In order to become bigger, they should not hesitate to network with the French ones – practice of clusters tends to show this is more likely to be win-win than win-lose.
With a more medium-term outlook, Brexit will encourage many French universities to look for new destinations for their Erasmus programmes as the United Kingdom will become a non-EU destination. As the last remaining English-speaking country, Irish higher education should be ready to seize this opportunity: it will develop a new generation of French and Irish students, keen on doing business between France and Ireland.
43 INSEE, “Où trouver les chiffres clés des PME » ?https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4255717?sommaire=4256020 (21/11/2020)
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
THE REPUTATION OF IRELAND IN FRANCE: ARE OLD CLICHES WITHERING AWAY AMONG YOUNG FRENCH PEOPLE?44
Julien Guillaumond
Introduction
Among other issues, Ireland’s international reputation seems to have become a key component of the Irish government’s global vision and strategy as one of its latest publications can attest45. “Ireland’s international reputation”, it says, “takes time to build, but can be easily damaged. Irish representatives work hard to project and maintain a positive image of Ireland as a good place in which to live, to do business, to invest, to study or to visit”46. Then follows a list of actors and organisations which are central to Ireland’s positive global footprint.
History together with commercial and cultural exchanges47 and the arts48 (travel writings from the early 17th century49, literary works, films and festivals) have contributed to shape the image French people have of Ireland, and vice versa. More recently, in the 1960s particularly, with the development of international tourism, the promotional campaigns of Bord Fáilte have very much shaped French people’s views of Ireland, giving it a positive image as a country immersed in traditions and rurality50. Such campaigns, argued Dumortier in 1992, reinforced a positive vision of Ireland
44 This present work is part of a progress report for the GIS EIRE diaspora group commissioned by the Irish Embassy in Paris. 45 Department of the Taoiseach, Global Ireland. Ireland’s Global Footprint to 2025, Dublin, Government Publications, 2018. 46 Department of the Taoiseach, Global Ireland. Ireland’s Global Footprint to 2025, op. cit., p. 18. 47 See Denis Dumortier, “Les Relations économiques franco-irlandaises”, in Études Irlandaises, vol. 12, no. 1, 1987, pp. 117-126. 48 Such an approach or a vision of the country has very much been shaped as well by literary works which often depict an imagined island of Ireland, with elements not devoid of a form of freedom to write one’s novel but at the same time trying to make it as much as possible understandable by a French readership. See Kathleen O’Flaherty, “Regards français sur l’Irlande”, in Études Irlandaises, vol. 13, no. 2, 1988, pp. 31-43. 49 See Grace Neville, “Into the West”: The West of Ireland in the Writings of French Travellers, in Études Irlandaises, vol. 40, no. 1, 2015, pp. 259-271. 50 Denis Dumortier, “L’Image de l’Irlande en France à travers la publicité de Bord Fáilte”, in Hommes et Terres du Nord, 1992, vol. 2, pp. 86-88.
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The Reputation of Ireland in France among French people51 as well as a romantic view of Ireland, seen more as an island of the past52 using three main characteristics of the country: the magnificent scenery of the west of Ireland, the pace of life and its people53. The rural aspect has also been promoted together with various pictures of an Irish landscape, while a second image presented Irish people as welcoming and communicative hosts54. In the Irish case, according to B. Dumortier writing in the early 1990s, the countryside has been one key promotional tool of a tourism strategy to counter the negative effects of the weather or the cost of living55. Considering the Imaginaire Irlandais festival and recent French tourists’ images of Ireland, Sheridan and O’Leary (2007) argued that French people still have a positive image of Ireland, but suggested that the tourism strategy should be updated following the transformation of Irish society and should take into account the longing for less traditional types of images among 21st century tourists56. Seen from a French perspective, a case study on some pubs and businesses selling Irish products in the Auvergne region in 2014-15 has shown that their marketing and commercial strategies still hung on to old clichés about Ireland, and strengthened those same old images. They are thus contributing to maintain some distant ‘invented tradition’ providing an experience to their customers57 based on what they expect, reinforcing existing stereotypes. In such a context where reputation does matter, what are the views young French people have of Ireland? What do they know about Ireland, and what shapes young French people’s views of Ireland in 2020?
Methodology
This report is based on an online survey conducted between 13 to 20 January 2020 among 1st year Applied Foreign Languages undergraduates at
51 D. Dumortier, “L’Image de l’Irlande en France à travers la publicité de Bord Fáilte”, op. cit., pp. 86-88. 52 Ibid. 53 Geraldine Sheridan and Sinéad O’Leary, “French Tourist Images of Ireland and L’Imaginaire Irlandais”, in Irish Studies Review, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 151-162, p. 151. 54 D. Dumortier, “L’Image de l’Irlande en France à travers la publicité de Bord Fáilte », op. cit., pp. 87-88. 55 Brigitte Dumortier, “Les Clés de l’essor touristique irlandais », in Hommes et Terres du Nord, 1992, vol. 2, pp. 79-85, p. 79. 56 G. and S. O’Leary, “French Tourist Images of Ireland and L’Imaginaire Irlandais”, op. cit., p. 159. 57 Julien Guillaumond, “Marketing Irishness Today: A Study on Authenticity in French Businesses”, in Frank Healy and Brigitte Bastiat, (eds), Voyages between France and Ireland. Culture, Tourism and Sport, Bern, Peter Lang, 2017.
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
Clermont Auvergne University58, in the Auvergne region (central France). The survey was conducted in French to avoid any possible confusions on terms and to allow students to express themselves as much as possible in their native language. It was anonymous and respondents could fill in the survey at University or at home59.
Students graduating with a BA in Applied Foreign Languages from Clermont Auvergne University will have studied equally foreign languages to the same level as well as economics, marketing and human resources. They will be proficient in both languages and will be able to work for businesses abroad. From the very beginning, undergraduate students are told that such a 3-year degree also comes with internships in France or abroad, and a whole semester of studies in a partner university abroad in their last few months. At the time of undergoing that survey, first-year undergraduates had not yet had any classes on Ireland as part of their present curriculum. That does not mean that they had not been to Ireland or that they had not studied some aspects of Irish history or Irish culture previously (at secondary schools or high schools for instance)60.
The survey was divided into 5 sections offering the possibility to narrow down to a certain number of elements the profile of our respondents and identify more precisely their views about Ireland 61 . The first section identified the profile of respondents while the second was devoted to finding out what respondents knew about Ireland. For that, students had to associate words/ideas with “Ireland”. Note here that no definition of what Ireland was, politically or geographically, was given to students. That section allowed a ranking of the most often-quoted words related to Ireland (word-occurrence system) to be established. Section 3 was a complement to section 1 (profile) while it also offered the possibility of nuancing what was answered by respondents. Section 4 aimed at identifying some common knowledge about Ireland in association with students’ previous knowledge, singling out an author, a music group and/or a film. The final section acted as a concluding part in which respondents could offer some extra comments, and say whether they were likely to visit Ireland in the near future.
58 A BA in Applied Foreign Languages is a three-year degree where students specialize in 2 languages (English and a second foreign language) and also study economics, law and marketing among the main subjects as well as international business. 59 In addition, students were briefly introduced to the survey when it was presented to them at the end of a class led by another lecturer hours before it was launched, and they received emails reminding them of this on-going survey twice during this period in January. 60 Their first lecture on Ireland was planned following the end of the survey. 61 Survey structure and questions are displayed in appendix 2.
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
When the survey was closed, 154 students had responded which represents an 84% response rate based on all students enrolled in the first-year of the academic year 2019-2020. A first filter was applied to find out if all surveys were complete, if information was correct or if they were all genuine first- year undergraduates62. In the end, the cohort was made up of 122 students (98 women, 24 men) aged from 18 to 21. 48% came from the Puy-de-Dôme department, while others came from neighbouring areas, the second largest being Allier, followed by Haute-Loire.
Findings and analysis
Most common ideas about Ireland
A ranking based on word occurrences was established. To that end, a broad categorization of key words was defined as expressed by respondents when asked about three ideas coming to their minds when thinking about Ireland (Quelles sont les trois premières choses que vous associez à l'Irlande ?). The first big category was “folklore and festive days”, containing 34 hits relating to Saint Patrick, or Saint Patrick’s day, and leprechauns (see appendix 3). The second biggest category was geography/capital city with 17 hits (among them, 14 hits for Dublin, 1 for Belfast), then drinks with 15 answers associating Ireland with beer (11 hits), Guinness, pubs and bars63. The “historical events” and “symbols” categories followed. Then came the sport category (10 hits) with 8 hits for rugby, 1 for Gaelic football and one mention of MMA fighter Conor McGregor. On second and third counts (see appendix 3), elements corresponding to the same top categories previously identified were also given by respondents which suggest that there remains a rather strong correlation among respondents between the “Ireland” they imagine and ideas referring to its patron saint, its feast day and festive events together with the drinks, the symbols and the landscape. Is this representation of Ireland different if students had visited Ireland? There does not seem to be conclusive evidence on that particular point, and our sample of students who have already travelled to the island of Ireland (school trips or family holidays) is too small (less than 1%).
62 See appendix 1 for cohort size and successive filters. 63 Interestingly, there appears to be a slight gender bias here as our survey reveals that among all answers associating Ireland with drinks, two-thirds of those answers came from female students surprisingly. The week before the survey took place, I think the Ulster team played ASM Clermont in Clermont.
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
Literature, music and films associated with Ireland
What about cultural markers? Are young undergraduate students able to identify some cultural elements about Ireland in the three following domains: literature, music and the cinema? Is James Joyce one of the most often quoted traditional Irish writers among the list? 45 respondents (out of 122, around 37%) gave an Irish author’s name but two-thirds mentioned Oscar Wilde as an Irish author, and The Picture of Dorian Gray or the Canterville Ghost among the main literary works. Then came Samuel Beckett, Joseph O’Connor, Bram Stocker and Eoin Colfer. Such findings have to be considered in the light of respondents’ previous syllabi in high school64. In terms of films, only 15 replies were received with a selection of old and more recent films such as a biopic, Michael Collins, or a drama, The Wind that Shakes the Barley, fantasy cartoons such as Brendan and the Secret of Kells, or the Renegade. To the question Pourriez-vous me donner le nom d'un groupe de musique irlandais ?, more than half of respondents offered at least one music group 65 : U2 (44 times), followed by the Cranberries (32) and others such as Niall Horan, Sinead O’Connor, rather more modestly Realtá, the Dubliners, the Pogues, the Corrs, Hozier or Ed Sheeran. Their main source of information on Ireland appears to be strongly correlated with their education since a great majority (80% of respondents) were taught about Ireland at secondary and/or at high schools (see appendix 4).
Likelihood to visit Ireland
The survey ended on a final question: “souhaiteriez-vous visiter l'Irlande dans les prochaines années ?”or would you like to visit Ireland in the coming years, and if so, could you briefly explain why? 111 out of 122 respondents replied positively (among them, 8 people who had already been to Ireland – see previous question). The often quoted reason was to discover the country, though it is not officially named or defined as such), its culture and the language. What is interesting though is that respondents tend to move away from traditional stereotypes regarding the Irish as being welcoming and nice people, focusing more on the landscapes and the culture as key determining factors for of a visit to Ireland in the future. In more than half of the answers, one can find the words “culture” and “landscape” as reasons to visit Ireland. One might say that it could be associated with the specific profile of students, Applied Foreign Languages students, in other words
64 That might have to do with the baccalaureate diploma as well. 65 The question there was slightly off the mark as I asked for groups while I should have asked about groups/individual musicians.
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The Reputation of Ireland in France students who might be more inclined towards a more international perspective of their future careers and of course who are possibly attracted by the idea of working abroad. Quite often, respondents gave as the main reasons the idea of discovering the world, visiting an English-speaking country and improving linguistic skills, but the core of the answers remained culture and landscape. At the same time, such a question was purely indicative as they may change their minds.
However, there are some specific adjectives which still refer to the Irish as welcoming people, friendly, impressive landscape, an intriguing culture, landscape looking fantastic. Even in the open final comments section, the words landscape and a welcoming people, a nice country and one added the filming of Games of Thrones, traditions, local products and Guinness come up again. It would be interesting to measure more precisely how they have learnt about Ireland. Interestingly, there does not seem to be huge differences on ideas about Ireland between students who have been to Ireland (school trips or family holidays) and those who have not, once they are back in France. When asked about the most visited places66, those students did not follow a particular pattern, some visiting both parts of the island, others staying in the South: Dublin, the city and some of its museums, the Wicklow mountains for one, the National Leprechaun Museum for another, Glendalough, the Guinness museum, the West with Galway, the Cliffs of Moher and Connemara, Belfast, the Titanic Museum and “la place [sic] où s’est produit le Bloody Sunday”, said one respondent.
Limitations and concluding remarks
While categories used to identify trends among young respondents’ ideas about Ireland could be questioned because there could be a personal bias (for instance the word “castle” was put in the “history” category because of the context of the answer and not into “landscape”), most of these categories have also been used by other studies looking at tourist images of Ireland among the French67. However, it should be noted that the purpose of that study was also to establish more clearly what young undergraduates enrolled in their BA in Applied Foreign Languages knew about Ireland68.
66 The question was not put to respondents, unless they said they had been to Ireland before. The idea was to avoid the type of answers that would be influenced too much by tourism brochures, thus the focus was much more on basic knowledge. 67 See in particular Geraldine Sheridan and Sinéad O’Leary, “French Tourist Images of Ireland and L’Imaginaire Irlandais”, in Irish Studies Review, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 151- 162. 68 To our knowledge, this is the first time such a study was conducted on a large scale. Previously, a short questionnaire was done during the first lecture and students could
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
Our analysis suggests that young French students see Ireland very positively. Its reputation among young French undergraduates is safe and strong: it is an attractive destination for many of them. However, old clichés remain strong among those young French adults. Even though our sample is not representative of all French students, whether in terms of geographic profiles, academic curricula or professional aspirations, Ireland remains a place they associate with its Patron Saint, its festive character, its pubs and drink culture, and its landscape. However, for such a generation born between 2000 and 2002, the first generation born after the development of the Internet and also future tourists, they seem to be stuck into a rather old perception of what Ireland is. The way those 18-year olds see Ireland could of course be explained by their age, but it is all the more interesting to see that hardly any respondent talked about Northern Ireland or scarcely mentioned elements which could be associated with it (apart from some mentions of Belfast and others to be found in the “history” category) at a time when Brexit has taken so much space in the media in relation to the border between the North and South. In other words, they have no interest in the geographical or political definition of Ireland. What they have in mind remains an imagined Ireland with some elements of historical truth mingled with it.
Further studies could be conducted to find out whether such elements form part of a wider background or knowledge background of each and every French person. Such a conclusion is all the more valid today as the survey results suggest that there exists a view of Ireland which, though positive, remains static among the French public, and that old visions of Ireland seems to have passed through to the young. Another question could be whether or not a geographic dimension shaping commonly held stereotypes about Ireland exists since the Auvergne region does not have any real Celtic connection or association with Ireland compared to Brittany. Are there specificities of people from the Auvergne region regarding knowledge about Ireland? At the same time, could a gender dimension be isolated to look at Ireland’s reputation abroad and as an addition to the age segmentation used by the tourism agency?
interact with the lecturer during the first session, and such a survey gave way to a short session in which the lecturer tried to offer some answers to most common stereotypes on Ireland among French students. In that sense, the objective of previous short surveys was a teaching objective: identify some common held stereotypes which could be used for the structure of the different lectures during the 3 years the students would be taught about Irish society. In that sense, the idea was to find out about their knowledge of Ireland in order to tailor the different classes they are going to have in the course of their BA in Applied Foreign Languages to their knowledge of Irish society, north or south.
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
In their research paper, Sheridan and O’Leary (2007) wondered whether time had come to review the marketing policy and publicity of Ireland following its latest economic development and update its presentation when environmental issues as well as transport issues for instance have become more pressing issues69? What our study suggests a few years later is that if such a change has happened, there has not been any obvious trickle-down effects yet. Some respondents explained that they learnt about Ireland through the web and videos. Will the movie industry (films and series on video on demand platforms) act as new agents spreading updated images of Ireland or will it reinforce previous stereotypes? At a time where film induced tourism has become a valuable product of the tourism industry70, should Irish tourism authorities watch out over ideas that could be used in their future marketing campaign to avoid that other stereotypes held in films do not become ideas associated with Ireland for the new generation?
69 G. Sheridan and S. O’Leary, « French Tourist Images of Ireland and L’Imaginaire Irlandais”, op. cit., p. 152. 70 See Visit Scotland, Insight Department: The Outlander Effect and Tourism, Edinburgh, 2020, retrieved https://www.visitscotland.org/binaries/content/assets/dot- org/pdf/research-papers-2/outlander-effect-2019-updated-february-2020.pdf on 2 March 2020.
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
SURVEY ON THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS IRELAND AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN FRANCE (part 2)
Anne Groutel
The objectives of the second part of this survey are as follows:
-To assess the general opinion of a sample of university students about Ireland; -To evaluate their level of awareness of Irish universities; -To assess their level of interest in going to study to Ireland as part of an international programme such as Erasmus and to identify the reasons why they would make such a choice or, on the contrary, would not consider this country as a destination; -To test their level of awareness of ‘typical’ Irish goods; -To appraise their level of awareness and opinion of the Irish economy; -To find out whether they would be prepared to recommend Ireland as an investment location.
Methodology
The survey was organized on November 28th and 29th 2019 at the university Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. The questionnaires were handed out to a sample of 146 students, aged 19 to 22, 57 of whom are studying economics as their major or as part of a “double licence” (double degree). 127 out of 146 students have C2 (CEFR) level of English, 19 have C1 level of English.
Findings
Opinion on Ireland’s image
The students were first asked whether they had already been to Ireland. Only 24% (see chart 1) of them had which can be seen as rather low given: -The high level of proficiency in English of the sample;
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
-The fact that there are only two-English speaking countries in the EU; -The geographical proximity of Ireland.
However, nearly 85% (see chart 2) had a very good or fairly good image of the country. Considering that only a minority has been to Ireland, one can infer that the images of the country they get access to whether on television or the internet convey a positive message. It bears noting that 10.2% considered they did not know enough about Ireland to form an opinion.
Chart 1
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
Chart 2
Awareness of Irish universities
When asked to name at least one Irish university, 82.2% were unable to do so. The majority of those who were able to name one, mentioned Trinity College Dublin. One mentioned University College Cork, another one University College Galway.
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
Chart 3
-57.55% said they would not consider going to an Irish university as part of their studies. But, despite the lack of awareness highlighted above, a fairly large number of students, 38.3% of the sample, would consider Ireland as a place to study (see chart 4). This confirms the good image Ireland benefits from among young people of this age range.
Chart 4
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
The students were asked to give at least one reason which justifies their choices. The answers were not prompted. The main reasons given for not choosing Ireland as an Erasmus destination were the lack of awareness of Irish universities and the perception that they were not among the “prestigious” universities or at least not renowned for their particular subject. A significant number simply has no interest in the country and would rather choose another destination.
Reasons not to choose an Irish university
(Number of occurrences)
-Would rather go to the UK: 5 -Has no particular interest in the country and would rather choose another destination: 24 -Has never heard of Irish universities/(perceived) absence of prestigious universities/Not renowned for one’s subject: 27 -The climate: 10 -Accommodation is too expansive: 1 -Doesn’t know the country: 1 -Prefers large cities: 1 -Doesn’t know: 15
Reasons to go to study in an Irish university
(Number of occurrences)
-Trinity College Dublin is a prestigious university: 8 -Has been to Ireland and likes the place: 12 -Would like to discover the country and meet its people: 10 -Geographic proximity: 2 -To learn the language and to study in an English-speaking university: 22 -Dublin is less expensive than London: 2
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
Recommendations
There is a blatant lack of awareness of Irish universities among the students surveyed. However, it is interesting to note that those who are familiar with the country would consider Ireland as a place to study. This plus the fact that Ireland benefits from a good or very good image should be capitalized on. Now is a good time to target EU students, in general, since Brexit will probably make access to Britain and thus British universities more difficult. Ireland should advertise itself as the only English-speaking country in the EU and present itself as an attractive alternative showcasing Trinity College Dublin as the “Irish Sorbonne” for example. In the long term, the affinity diaspora would certainly grow in number.
Irish product awareness
When asked to name at least one “typically” Irish product, 55.8% were able to do so.
Chart 5
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
The list of products is as follows
Irish products (not prompted) seen as typical and number of occurrences:
Beer: 32 Guinness: 38 Wool/woolen clothes: 3 Salmon/fish: 2 lamb: 1 Whiskey: 7
The list is rather short but this is to be expected given the fact that only 24% of the students surveyed have been at least once to Ireland and that a significant number of them probably still live with their parents and do not shop for themselves. Still, the brand name Guinness stands out as the only Irish brand name mentioned, which is quite remarkable considering that advertising alcoholic beverages is forbidden in France.
Opinion about the Irish economy
When asked about their opinion of the Irish economy, the majority (56.8%) said they did not know enough about it to express an opinion. This is to be expected since Ireland’s economy has not made the headlines in France in recent years. However, the sample included a sizable number of students who major in economics or study it as part of a double degree. 25% of those who expressed an opinion, had a very good or fairly good opinion of the Irish economy, while 15.75% had a fairly negative opinion.
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
Chart 6
Those who expressed an opinion (43.15%) by answering the previous question were asked if they would recommend Ireland as an investment location. 57.15% said they would.
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The Reputation of Ireland in France
Chart 7
Those students were also asked to write at least one term or adjective that, in their view, characterizes the Irish economy. The list of terms (not prompted) is as follows:
Terms or adjectives associated with the Irish economy
(Number of occurrences)
Positive:
-Dynamic: 8 -Open: 4 -Advantageous: 1 -Entrepreneurial:2 -Low corporate tax rate: 9 -Independent: 2 -stable: 2 -Rich: 1 -Tax optimisation: 5 -Open to Europe: 4 -Pragmatic/realistic: 1 -Pro-business:1
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-Diversified: 1 -Liberal: 6 -Service economy: 1 -Economy specialised in finance: 1 -Redistributive economy: 1 -Presence of big multinationals: 2 -Thriving: 1 -Export economy: 1 -Developed: 1 -Industrial: 1 -Agricultural: 1
Negative:
-Tax haven: 10 -Peripheral: 1 -Unemployment: 1 -Poor: 1 -unstable/fragile/weak: 8 -Sluggish: 1 -No solidarity towards Europe: 1 -Dependent on the UK: 3 -Dependent: 2 -Crisis: 2 -Housing bubble: 1 - Inegalitarian economy: 4 -Artificially inflated growth figures:1 -Small Financial sector: 1 -Not diversified: 2
Positive terms and adjectives mentioned to describe the Irish economy outnumber the negative ones. It is seen predominantly seen as dynamic and liberal. The fact that a low corporate tax rate is a strong point of the Irish foreign direct investment promotion policy was mentioned nine times. It is also seen as a place favoured by businesses looking for tax optimization.
However, the term “tax haven” was also mentioned a significant number of times so were the adjectives “unstable”, “fragile” and “weak”. Most of the students surveyed were children when the financial crisis occurred but they are taught about it in their economics classes. This
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may be one of the reasons why some students associate those terms with the Irish economy.
Reasons for investing in Ireland
Those who said they would recommend Ireland as an investment location were also asked to give the main reason(s) why they would do so. The reasons are as follows:
(number of occurrences)
-Financial support for entrepreneurship: 2 - Member of the Eurozone: 1 -Low Corporate tax rate: 21 -Will be less affected by Brexit than the UK: 2 -Strong growth:1 -Flexible labour laws: 1 -Liberal economy: 2 -Little known European economic power: 1 -Open economy: 1 -Stable economy: 1 -Pro business climate: 2 -Presence of technological companies/start-ups: 1 -Good outlets: 1
Although a number of positive adjectives were mentioned such as “pro-business” “open”, the Irish economy’s main attraction is its low corporate tax rate. It is worth noting that it is not viewed yet as a “smart economy”. This aspect could certainly be advertised more to improve the country’s economy image.
Reasons for not investing in Ireland
Those who would not recommend Ireland as an investment location were also asked to give the main reason(s) why they would not do so. The reasons are as follows:
(number of occurrences)
-Insecurity linked to Brexit: 7 -Small home market: 1
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-Not a tax haven anymore: 1 -Open economy exposed to international crisis: 1 -Tax evasion: 3 -Uncertain future: 1 -Too small an economy: 1
Although Brexit, could be seen as an opportunity, economically speaking, for Ireland which will become the only English-speaking country in the EU, it was mainly perceived as a threat. The message that Brexit would jeopardize the “all-Island” economy may have been understood as a threat to the Irish economy as a whole.
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In addition to this survey three interviews were carried out with team members of Network Irlande, Enterprise Ireland (France) and Bord Bia (France).
What came out of those interviews is that, in general, not much is known about the Irish economy apart from the presence in Ireland of numerous foreign multinationals. French business people usually also know about Ireland’s low corporate tax rate, a topic that often “pops up in the conversation”.
While Ireland is known by French people mainly as a tourist destination, its businesses “do not really show up on the French radar”. There are some Irish multinationals, like Smurfit Kappa which employs 4000 people in France, but they are, in general, not associated with Ireland in French people’s minds. So, the general level of awareness of Irish businesses in France is low.
In general, French companies when looking for suppliers or business partners usually try to establish long-term relationships. It is a commitment-focused market. “A come and go” “easy in, easy win” attitude is not uncommon among small Irish businesses. Thus, potential Irish exporters have to be prepared to spend time and resources to establish a business relationship with a French business. Building trust will be essential to lead to a long-term business relationship.
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Some Irish companies are increasingly doing business in France in particular data centers, insurance, fintech, the pharmaceutical/life science as well as the medtech sectors or contribute to the development of “smart cities”. As most Irish companies are small, they are more flexible and a lot of them are innovative. They can provide tailored solutions to niche markets. Once Irish companies get a project off the ground, they seem to be reasonably well-received in France.
As far as the agri-food sector is concerned, Bord Bia is in charge of helping Irish exporters make connections with French professional buyers, carry out research and engage in public relations operations such as attending professional fairs or help set up in-store promotions.
Unlike Irish technological firms, the Irish agri-food sector benefits from a good level of awareness and a good image. Ireland has been promoting itself as a “green” island and the main products that are exported to France (meat, dairy products, seafood and beverages) are considered as high- quality products. The fact that Irish livestock is grass-fed has contributed to building the good image of Irish meat. Foodstuff sales to France, which amounted to 884 million euros, increased by 11% in 2019. Seafood, poultry live animals and cheese exports, in particular, have recorded strong growth. This bodes well for Irish exporters who may wish to channel their exports to continental Europe should the UK and EU fail to come to a favorable trade agreement.
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THE “REEL THING” BEYOND THE DIASPORA: DETERRITORIALIZING IRISH MUSIC IN FRANCE
Erick Falc’her-Poyroux
Unlike other conquerors, the Irish have undoubtedly subjugated the world in the most peaceful and joyful of manners: with their music, songs and dances. Every city in Europe and beyond now has its own Irish pubs, and most have their Irish music sessions and set-dancing classes where European nationals join in and become musically Hiberniores Hibernis ipsis. This paper will consider the multiple factors that give Irish music such a universal appeal, far beyond the Irish diaspora. We will first trace briefly the development of a music-based economy in Ireland from the 20th century to the present. We will then attempt to explore the origins of the expansion of an Irish music scene beyond the Irish diaspora, with a particular emphasis on the French case, before concentrating on the significance of the French summer schools. Our final part will analyse the large-scale adjustments that have transformed Irish music into a global phenomenon, while Ireland itself seems eager to reterritorialise its cultural creativity.
An Industry in its Own Right
In the early 1990s in Ireland, music magazines such as Hot Press, previously more interested in rock & pop music, began publishing articles on Irish traditional music and its cultural and economic importance. It was around this time that the idea of a campaign was developed to intensify state support for all genres of music as a new economic vehicle. This campaign, initiated by Hot Press in 1993 and simply entitled “Jobs in Music”, was already sensing what a tangible music industry could look like, in a buoyant global context:
“There is absolutely no doubt that additional wealth, and jobs, can be created in the music industry in Ireland (...). At the risk of being repetitious, music is one of this country’s greatest natural resources. South
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Africa has its diamonds, the Middle-East its oil, France its food - we have our music. (...) Irish bands, songwriters and artists have proven that they - that we - are very good at this thing. Without any kind of government strategy an enormous amount has been achieved. Much more can be”.71
From the outside, the history of the music industry in Ireland could be seen therefore to begin in 1993. But on closer examination, this phase was only the culmination of a long process that had begun decades earlier.
The very first recordings of Irish traditional music were not made in Ireland, but in the United States and England, as the first studio in Dublin did not come into being until 1937. The rise of the American recording industry then saw the (future) big companies conquer the huge market of immigrants, be they Italian, Polish or Irish. It is therefore from the United States that the legitimacy of the Clancy Brothers' success came first, in the wake of John F. Kennedy's election as President of the United States in November 1960. Consecration was reached when they were invited onto the national Ed Sullivan Show in 1961, then asked to play at Carnegie Hall in 1962, and requested to play at the White House in 1963, where they ironically sang “We Want No Irish Here”.
In addition to the ballads of the Clancy Brothers, the Chieftains offered instrumental music under the direction of a classically trained musician, Seán Ó Riada. From 1962 to 1975, the Chieftains remained an amateur group and were satisfied with occasional concerts in Ireland or Europe. They only moved up a gear after their first tour of the United States in 1974 when they hired an American manager. This strategic vision, now expected from all professional Irish musicians, was very innovative at the time. As the Irish market was notoriously too small to provide a decent living for Irish musicians, those who did not opt for emigration had to take advantage of their privileged access to certain countries, in particular the United States and Great Britain. This trend towards the export of Irish music and dance was
71 Niall CRUMLISH, “Industry Special : Irish Music - The Blueprint”, Hot Press, Vol. 17, N° 16, August 25 1993, p. 43.
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the result of an inescapable economic fact: Ireland was and would remain too small a market for bands like the Chieftains, Planxty, Altan or Lankum.
BEYOND THE DIASPORA
At the beginning of the 21st century, statistics on the Irish diaspora varied greatly depending on the chosen criteria. An official government report from 2015 indicates however that approximately 17% of those born in Ireland currently live abroad 72 . Not surprisingly, Irish music has become particularly well established in countries where this diaspora has been omnipresent for centuries: England, the USA, Canada and Australia, in particular. The growing popularity of master classes in Irish music and dance outside this diaspora is a more recent phenomenon: in Europe, Asia, South America, etc., most local musicians do not claim any particular Irish ancestry and only seek to perfect their technical knowledge and their practice of music and dance. This has been the case since the 1970’s, as the Dutch uilleann pipes-maker Marc van Daal explains:
“The place where I live is very near the Belgium border and so I visited, with great regularity, folk concerts in Belgium where folk music is much more alive than in The Netherlands. This is also where I first got in contact with traditional Irish music. In 1975 I went to a concert of the, then totally unknown here, group Planxty [and] saw and heard an Irish piper (a very young Liam O'Flynn) demonstrate his abilities on this enchanting instrument. I was hooked on the uilleann pipes straight away and HAD to play the pipes no matter what”.73
Irish music thus started making a major impact outside the Irish diaspora during the seventies, particularly in Europe.
72 The official government report of March 2015 remains rather vague on the question: "it is believed that there are up to 70 million people around the world claiming Irish ancestry and heritage (...) There is no clear evidence to support this figure, but it certainly runs into the tens of millions". Global Irish - Ireland's Diaspora Policy, Bunreacht na hÉireann, March 2015. 73 See http://www.uilleann.net/uilleannHistory.htm
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Germany was also, and still is, one of the main areas of expansion, with the creation of the Irish Folk Festival tour by Carsten Linde in 1974: since then this major tour has helped continental Europeans discover household names in Irish music such as the Furey Brothers, Micho Russell, Clannad, De Danann, Altan, and many more.
In France, interest in Irish music first developed in the West, where musician and collector Polig Montjarret (1920-2003) was the main promoter of Brittany-Ireland relations, and the mastermind of the first Breton-Irish twinning between the cities of Lorient and Galway in 1975. It was in the same frame of mind that one of the most important festivals in Europe was created in 1971: the Lorient Interceltic Festival has since then brought together all the Celtic nations, welcoming more than 700,000 visitors annually and remaining one of the largest festivals in Europe.74
From very early on, the pioneers of "Celtic" music were particularly receptive to Irish sounds: Alan Stivell75 and his guitarist Dan Ar Braz, and bands such as Tri Yann76 or An Triskell (brothers Pol and Hervé Quefféléant), all emerged from Brittany and are still active almost fifty years later. It was also in Brittany in the middle of the 1970’s that genuine enthusiasts learned to play "like the Irish": Alain Le Hégarat and Alan Kloatr (Alain Cloâtre, 1952-2018), then Patrick Molard (1951-) on the uilleann pipes, or Jean-Michel Veillon (1959-) on the wooden flute, encouraged by Robbie Hughes and Desi Wilkinson: they both continue to teach their passion and to tour the world, while another early follower in Brittany, flute-player Michel Bonamy, has become an Irish flute maker.
74 Jean-Pierre Pichard was its director between 1971 and 2007, now replaced by Lisardo Lombardia. See www.festival-interceltique.bzh. 75 See in particular Alan Stivell’s second album, Renaissance de la harpe celtique, Fontana 6325.302 (1972), as well as his album recorded live in Dublin: Stivell - In Dublin, Am Baile Atha Cliath, Yn Nulyn, Fontana 9299 547, 1975. 76 For example, the Irish influence can be found in many traditional instrumentals throughout their albums, notably through cover versions of the little-known Irish group Skarae Brae, in particular "Cad é Sin don Té Sin" on Suite Gallaise (Marzelle 6325 700, 1974) ; "An Cailín Rua" (under the title "Si Mort a Mors") on An Heol A Zo Glaz (Marzelle 6313204, 1981); "An Suantraí" (under the title "La Ballade Du Cheval Mallet"), on Anniverscène (Marzelle 826 074-2, 1985). Unfortunately, the group never cites its sources.
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Largely thanks to the famous Parisian restaurant Ti Jos and to the Mission Bretonne in the Montparnasse district, Paris also became an important centre of Irish musical joie de vivre77 and Christian Lemaître was one of the very first Frenchmen to master the fiddle technique. The Irish influence continued to spread during the 1980’s with the creation in 1982 of the Centre de Musique Irlandaise and in 1984 of the Association Irlandaise de Paris78; that same year, the group Shamrock, created in 1981, was awarded the prize for "best music group" in Ireland at the Fleadh Cheoil in Kilkenny and subsequently signed a record deal with Polydor79: among its musicians are renowned and still very active figures of traditional Irish music in France such as Emmanuel Delahaye and Michel Sikiotakis. The latter created in 1988 one of the leading Irish music groups in France, Taxi Mauve, which also recorded an album in 199280. At the same time, Marc(o) Pollier began to learn the uilleann pipes in Birmingham and, in the North of France, classical harpist Katrien Delavier became passionate about the metal string harp and produced two solo albums, and a third with the group Hempson81. She also shared the stage and her passion with Violaine Mayeur, a native of the Cévennes, who plays on a copy of Queen Marie's harp made by her husband Joël Herrou, and continues her research on the old playing technique82.
The 1990’s were of course the peak era for musicians in France and around the world, benefiting from the fashion for "Celtic" music, notably Dan Ar Braz and his show "L'Héritage des Celtes", which was itself partly responsible for this renewed interest83. Among the dozens of musicians
77 Two record companies in particular were involved: Arion and Ocora (Radio- France); see the recordings of Gérard Krémer, Irlande Éternelle - Harpe Irlandaise, Pub Music, Arion ARN 33196, 1973; and those of Josyane Bériou, Ireland - vol. 1 Héritage Gaëlique Et Traditions Du Connemara, Ocora 558 541, 1978. 78 See www.association-irlandaise.org 79 See the album Shamrock, Mo Cheol Thú, Polydor 825 577-1, 1985. 80 See the album Taxi Mauve, Far Off Fields, Keltia Musique KMCD 37, 1992. 81 See Katrien Delavier, La Harpe Irlandaise, Playasound PS 65095, 1992 ; Harpes d’Irlande - Fishing in the rain, CD Playsound PS 65148, 1995. Hempson - Irlande - Musique Ancienne Irlandaise / Early Irish Music, Auvidis Ethnic, 1994. 82 See Violaine Mayeur, D’Eau et de Lumière, VM04, 2017. 83 See Dan Ar Braz, Héritage Des Celtes, Columbia, COL 477763 2, 1994.
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in his show are those who have made Irish music one of their specialities: Patrick Molard and Ronan Le Bars on bagpipes, Gilles Le Bigot, Nicolas Quemener and Jacques Pellen on guitars, Christian Lemaître on fiddle and Jean-Michel Veillon on flutes. At the same time, on the other hand, several professional French musicians who were passionate about Irish music chose to live abroad: this was the case of two fiddlers, Patrick Ourceau and Philippe Varlet, who have been living in North America since the 1980’s, where they have pursued their careers as musicians and teachers.
This global musical wave gave birth in France to countless bands and Irish music sessions: the phenomenon has since then benefited from a new trend, as a considerable Irish pub industry developed globally at the same time84. Faced with the multiplication of Irish music enthusiasts residing all over France, Dominique Renaudin logically created the Irlandetradfr discussion list on the internet in 1998 to facilitate exchanges, which was to a large extent transferred a few years later to the Facebook page of the same name and which now boasts more than 1200 subscribers.85
FRENCH SUMMER SCHOOLS
For the past thirty years, most of the major cities in France - and some smaller towns - have also had associations dedicated to Irish dancing and regular Irish music sessions, sometimes with specific slow sessions for beginners. Thanks to this popularity, some of these associations have also started organising intensive Irish music master classes, in summer or winter, which can claim to be as good, and sometimes better, than many similar events in Ireland, according to Irish musicians themselves. While many amateur French musicians do go to Ireland on a regular basis to attend master classes in festivals, or simply sessions in their favourite counties, Irish music master classes in
84 All major Western cities now have at least one Irish pub, often supplied to the owner on a turnkey basis by a company specialising in this industry, and based on the desired category (gastronomic, Victorian, brewery, boutique, Celtic...): see for example the catalogue of the company that created the concept, the Irish Pub Company, founded in 1990 and a partner of the Guinness brewery: http://irishpubcompany.com 85 See www.facebook.com/groups/IrlandeTradFr
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France represent an easy way to meet “the reel thing” in a cheaper and warmer environment: among the main summer schools, "Celticîmes" in Albiez-Montrond in Savoie is the most recent and was created in July 2010; the Irish rendez- vous festival each autumn in Morbihan has been in existence since 2009; the Morbihan winter school (formerly "Bono Winter School", now renamed "Brittany Winter School") in the commune of Arzon has existed since 2007; and "An Seisiún / La Session" in Mesquer, in Loire-Atlantique, has been running since 2002.86
But the most important and oldest of these master classes was created in 1991 in the Dordogne region by Claude Fossaert and Philippe Giraud, two French fiddlers. Every July, the Rencontres de Tocane recruits the crème de la crème of Irish musicians to teach their passion, and attracts musicians from all over Europe for an intensive week of Irish music 87: since its beginnings, and thanks to the coordination of Irene Martin, Tocane has seen more than 200 Irish musicians teaching master classes. The list of teachers is a veritable pantheon of Irish music: After Gerry "fiddle" O'Connor, Desi Wilkinson, Eithne Ní Uallacháin and Brendan Begley in the first year, Tocane saw the arrival of Martin Hayes, Jackie Daly and Kevin Burke during the same decade, Paddy Glackin, Lillis Ó Laoire, Geraldine Cotter, Mary McNamara, Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill, Ronan Browne, Julia O'Keeffe, Kevin Crawford, Fintan Vallely, Terry Moylan, Séamus Creagh, Nollaig Casey, Liz Doherty, Kevin Glackin, Charlie Piggott, and since the turn of the millennium Matt Cranitch, Hammy Hamilton, Conal Ó Gráda, Áine Uí Cheallaigh, Siobhán Peoples, Siobhán Armstrong, Kieran Hanrahan, Laoise Kelly, Paul de Grae, Dermot Byrne, Kevin Conneff, Niall Vallely, Karen Casey, Caitlín Nic Gabhann, Zoë Conway, and many others.
86 See celticimes.org; bws-irl.com; www.anseisiun.fr. The French phenomenon is not unique in Europe, and Italy has some excellent small festivals, including two in Emilia-Romagna: Bobbio, which since the 7th century has been home to a monastery founded by the Irish monk Saint Colomban, has been hosting the Irlanda In Music festival in mid-July every year since 1998 (www.irlandainmusica.com); and Umberto Bisi created in 2012 the small Éire! festival in Bondeno, which takes place every year at the end of August (www.eirelafesta.it). 87 See www.rencontresmusicalesirlandaisestocane.fr
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The special significance of the discreet Tocane has been confirmed by the interest shown by the Irish Traditional Music Archive which, since 2014, has been collecting documents relating to the history of the Rencontres Musicales Irlandaises de Tocane. This unprecedented recognition outside the Irish diaspora is here explained by Nicholas Carolan, its then director:
“It seemed a perfect sample of globalisation (...), but there wasn't any documentation. And one of our remits is to document Irish traditional music, collect the materials of Irish traditional music and information about it, not just in Ireland, not just among the Irish diaspora, but worldwide because we're interested in all performers of Irish traditional music wherever they are.”88
All these encounters between Irish music enthusiasts are thus an opportunity for musicians from all over France to meet "in real life" and not only thanks to the internet89; more importantly, the essential activity of these few days is to "sessionner" (a recent neologism of a verb) for long hours, until very late at night, or even until the early morning, to play and play again all the great classics of "Irish trad" and if possible learn new rare melodies. Everyone will leave after a few days, determined to improve their technique or to widen their repertoire to come back the following year in the best conditions.
As in Ireland, these collective communions of the new age are not without some religious connotations; one will thus find, around a high priest (the musician coordinating the session), all the main attributes of the classical liturgy: songs and recitatives, the ritual of tuning, the sacred language, the tacit communion for the sequence of melodies, maybe some dancing, devotion to the great figures of the past, a
88 Nicholas Carolan, interview with the author for the documentary Tocane: Ceol agus Dordogne, Erick Falc'her-Poyroux, 2017 (https://youtu.be/LdtkxlWG2iM). Nicholas Carolan retired in September 2015 and was replaced by Grace Toland, who also taught at Tocane (singing, 2005). 89 In addition to the Facebook group www.facebook.com/groups/IrlandeTradFr for general discussions, the website www.bzh-session.org is packed with information about Irish music sessions in Brittany. Several cities in France also have dedicated websites and www.agendatrad.org offers broader information on all types of traditional music.
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passionate fervour for the tune names, the endless prayers to obtain a drink from the waiter, the discreet consultations and whispers, and so on. Were it not for the almost ritual absence of bursts of laughter, one would think one was in Ireland.
A new generation of French musicians has therefore emerged over the last fifteen years or so and, for many of them, it is their parents who have passed on this passion for the country and its music: some of them have even become established professionals in Irish music in France. Although few bands last more than a couple of years, and even fewer are those that make a living solely on Irish music and dance, one should mention names such as Avalon Celtic Dances, Blackwater, Broken String, Dirty Linen, Doolin, Dusty Feet Céilí Band, Faolan, Gaolta, Garlic Bread, Poppy Seeds, Shelta, The Boys in the Gap, The Rolling Frogs and many others.
Reterritorialising?
One of the spectacular consequences of the deterritorialisation of Irish music, however, has been the attempt at repatriating it, notably with the successful attempts of the – somewhat fragmented – Irish musical world at reterritorialising its music-making creativity and resources via campaigns aimed at securing a place on Unesco’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage for the uilleann pipes and the harp.
The very nature of Irish music at the beginning of the 21st century is thus a far cry from what it was a century or so ago. A new musical universe has emerged, in many ways, summarized here by Susan Motherway :
1. the identification of general rules and codes of practice for the performer 2. the emergence of musical arrangements with increased instrumental diversity 3. a change in the performance context 4. the establishment of a common repertoire 5. the establishment of a formalized learning system
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6. the establishment of an evaluation process and performance standards 7. the evolution of a competition process for validating proficient performers 8. the emergence of professionals and masters of the tradition 9. the reification of 'super-star' performers 10. the establishment of a fee scale for public performances.90
The transmission of musical knowledge, which was once the preserve of itinerant musicians and dancers, can therefore be witnessed today– and since the 1960s – mainly in pubs, and has taken on a new dimension outside the Irish diaspora and on the Internet since the turn of the millennium.
Symbolised by the creation in 1987 of the Irish Traditional Music Archive in Dublin, the revival of Irish music has also been marked by a series of facts, which can be listed as follows: 1/ the multiplication of university institutions and associations in Ireland and abroad – whether with a global vision or specialized by instrument; 2/ the revival of step dancing in Ireland, then well beyond the borders thanks to the worldwide success of the Riverdance show and its imitations; 3/ the development of dance competitions and the positive emulation they generate all over the world, despite the valid criticisms; 4/ the constant regeneration and sharing of the repertoire, styles and instruments used by musicians, with the global participation of online communities91 and even thanks to Artificial Intelligence92; 5/ the technological inventiveness and meticulousness of contemporary instrument makers, many of whom are not Irish – even by descent – and hail from places as far apart as Australia, the USA, France or Japan.
90 Motherway, Susan H., The Globalization of Irish Traditional Song Performance (Surrey: Ashgate, 2016), 149. 91 See www.thesession.org 92 See www.themachinefolksession.org and www.folkrnn.org, as well as the extrardinary fake story of the O'Conaill family: www.highnoongmt.wordpress.com/2018/09/24/an-experimental-album-of-irish- traditional-music-and-computer-generated-tunes
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Conclusion
At this stage in our historical and cultural journey, it seems obvious that no one can reduce Irish music to its mere presence in pubs, although this reductive vision adequately sums up the road travelled: from its original sacred or recreational character, music and dance in Ireland were transformed in the 19th century into an affirmation of identity, later into a patriotic vector and sometimes into a tool of control by certain activists, and more recently into an entertainment and consumer product. But music as a cultural reality also remains a process driven by constant amateur practice, an uninterrupted tradition that is now particularly widespread. While this evolution essentially took place in Ireland at first, it now extends beyond the limits of the island and is now widely exported. Some may see it as the loss of the Irish soul, but no one can deny that it would have disappeared body and soul with many of its European, American, Asian, etc., counterparts, without this constant adaptation.
In spite of all this, the Irish public remains largely unaware of the unparalleled importance of Irish music in its internal and external economy, and unaware of the avant-garde nature of the music market in particular and of the cultural agenda as a rule. Irish music is fascinating precisely because of this capacity for evolution, and because of this fertile adaptation to changes both in time and space: from a small island on the edge of an old continent to the Irish diaspora around the world, from an aristocratic profession to a popular activity, from an essentially rural existence to an urban enthusiasm, from small kitchens to world stages, from dance music to orchestral compositions, from seasoned Irish musicians to French beginners joining sessions in pubs, etc., its capacity for integration seems boundless.
Irish music has therefore achieved a real tour de force: offering the world a piece of its culture while retaining an authentic function within its own society. And this artistic duality is all the more relevant since, at the same time, this contribution has been reintegrated by Ireland as a validation of its identity by the international community.
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As a result, Irish music now extends far beyond the confines of its home territory and is taking root in many parts of the world, often without the Irish diaspora playing any role in it. From this perspective, it remains very difficult to circumscribe too precisely what will become of the Irish musical tradition as it challenges today’s vision of Irishness in favour of multiple and flexible forms of identity. In the same way as it would have been difficult to predict in the early 20th century what was to become of jazz music, or to foresee in the 1960’s the future of reggae music, no one really knows where Irish music will choose to go: from now on, it belongs both to Ireland and to the world, and it is up to anyone, anywhere, to pass on this peaceful and joyful conquest of the world, with Irish music.
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THE DIFFUSION OF GAELIC GAMES IN FRANCE Laurent Daniel
In terms of attendance, Gaelic football is the most popular team sport in Ireland, before almighty soccer and rugby; the second major sport administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), hurling or camogie - as it is called when played by women - takes third place only slightly behind soccer 93 . Actual figures are hard to come by, but it is estimated that the GAA has more than half a million members, both south and north of the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, for an overall population of less than seven million94.
However, in the six counties of Ulster which are part of the United Kingdom, Gaelic games are the quite exclusive preserve of the Catholic/Nationalist community. Indeed, the renaissance and mythology of these so-called Gaelic sports are closely linked to the history of Ireland’s struggle for independence. As such, they have traditionally been shunned by the Protestant/Unionist community in Northern Ireland who want to remain part of the United Kingdom 95 . Conversely, these sports were taken up wherever the Irish (who were often forced to leave the country because of the
93IPSOS MRBI, Irish Sports Monitor. Annual Report, Dublin, Sport Ireland, 2015, 47. Retrieved from www.sportireland.ie (accessed March 6, 2020). 94 GAA, Annual Report for the Irish Sports Council. GAA Games Development, 2014, VI. Retrieved from www.learning.gaa.ie (accessed March 6, 2020). 95SUGDEN John & BAIRNER Alan, Sport, Sectarianism and Society in a Divided Ireland, Leicester, Leicester University press, 1993; HASSAN David, “The GAA in Ulster”, in CRONIN Michael, MURPHY William & ROUSE Paul (eds.), The Gaelic Athletic Association 1884-2009, Dublin, Irish Academic Press, 2009, 77-92; BAIRNER Alan, “Sport, the Northern Ireland peace process, and the politics of identity”, Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research, 2013, vol. 5, no. 4, 220-9; BAIRNER Alan, “Still taking sides: sport, leisure and identity in Northern Ireland”, in COULTER Colin & MURRAY Michael (eds.), Northern Ireland after the troubles: a society in transition, Manchester, Manchester University Press, 2018, 215-31.
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political, social and economic conditions imposed upon them by British colonization of the island) settled.
However, the rest of the world has long been devoid of any Gaelic sporting activity. Indeed, probably due to its very ethnocentric and conservative frame of mind, the GAA does not appear to have ever had any determined intention of spreading its games worldwide (except perhaps for the last ten years or so). The well-known 1888 “Gaelic invasion” - the name by which a six-week tour of the United States by a party of hurlers and footballers is known - did not so much aim to popularize Gaelic games there as to raise money and revive Aonach Tailteann, an ancient festival that hosted funeral games, among other social functions, that had ceased shortly after the Norman invasion of Ireland in the twelfth century96. Similarly, none of the five goals and twenty-two objectives of the GAA’s Strategic Plan 2018-2021 makes any mention of international expansion.
WORLDWIDE PRESENCE OF THE GAA
Be that as it may, according to the numbers given by the latest international report (some of which do not add up and slightly differ from those given by other sources), the GAA has 421 affiliated clubs outside of the island of Ireland97 in places as far away from Ireland as the Middle East, Southeast Asia or South America.
For reasons already discussed, the GAA has a strong presence in Great Britain and the United States98 as well as
96 CRONIN Michael, “The Gaelic Athletic Association’s invasion of America, 1888: travel narratives, microhistory and the Irish American ‘other’”, Sport in History, 2007, vol. 27, no. 2, 190-216; CRONIN Michael, “Projecting the nation through sport and culture: Ireland, Aonach Tailteann and the Irish free state, 1924-32”, Journal of Contemporary History, 2003, vol. 38, no. 3, 395–411. 97 GAA, International Report, 2016. Retrieved from https://www.gaa.ie/downloads/international-gaa/ (accessed March 6, 2020), ii. 98DARBY Paul, “Gaelic games and the Irish diaspora in the United States”, in CRONIN Michael, MURPHY William & ROUSE Paul (eds.), The Gaelic Athletic Association 1884-2009, Dublin, Irish Academic Press, 2009, 203-20; DARBY Paul, Gaelic Games, Nationalism and the Irish Diaspora in the United States, Dublin, UCD Press, 2009; HARKIN
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so-called Australasia (Australia and New-Zealand) and Canada, which also took in a fair share of Irish exiles fleeing famines and dire living conditions. Britain GAA - the only Provincial Council of the GAA outside of Ireland - brings together 84 clubs, including seven in Scotland99. The United States has two federations: the North American County Board (NACB) or USGAA, set up in 1959, and the New York County Board, which split from the then National Council GAA of the United States in 1956 and refused to join the NACB100. The USGAA has 123 clubs and the New York GAA has 41101. As to Australasia and Canada, they have 63 and 20 affiliated clubs respectively. In addition to these, the GAA also boasts 22 clubs in Asia, and 11 in the Middle East. But it is much closer to home, in continental Europe (including the Channel Islands), that the GAA has recorded its strongest growth in recent history, rising from a single club in 1978 to 87 in 2019102.
EUROPEAN EXPANSION OF THE GAA
The Irish Invasion
According to the only paper on the expansion of the GAA in continental Europe 103 , the establishment of the first European Gaelic clubs in the late 1970s and 1980s was due to a change in Irish migration patterns. His well-documented study shows that since 1973 - when Ireland joined the then European Economic Community – and especially in the 1980s - when national barriers to trade were removed to form one single market within the European Union -
Frances, “The Gaelic Athletic Association and London’s ‘Irish’ diaspora”, in DASHPER Katherine, FLETCHER Thomas & McCULLOUGH Nicola (eds.), Sports Events, Society and Culture, London, Routledge, 2014, 132-44. 99BRADLEY Joseph, “Heritage, culture and identity: the Gaelic Athletic Association in Scotland”, in GRANT Jarvie (ed.), Sport in the making of Celtic cultures, Leicester, Leicester University Press, 1999, 13-25. 100 DARBY Paul, Gaelic Games,15-18. 101 https://www.gaa.ie/my-gaa/world-gaa/our-clubs/usgaa & https://www.gaa.ie/my-gaa/world-gaa/our-clubs/new-york/ (accessed March 6, 2020). 102 https://gaelicgameseurope.com/clubs/ (accessed March 6, 2020). 103 HASSAN David, “The Role of Gaelic Games in the Lives of the Irish Diaspora in Europe”, in Sport and Society, 2007, vol. 10, no. 3, 385-401.
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migratory routes have shifted. Indeed, even though the majority of Irish migrants are still heading towards Great Britain, there is now a greater proportion crossing over to continental Europe rather than to the United States. Hassan also notes that the socio-economic background of the emigrants has changed too. Contrary to the Irish women and men who fled the 19th century Great Famine or the dramatic economic recessions that plagued 20th century Ireland, those who have been migrating to Europe since 1975 usually have a university degree and have chosen to emigrate, rather than having been forced to by economic circumstances, and are planning to return home after gaining valuable international work experience. The main expansion of Gaelic sports clubs in continental Europe occurred after the introduction of the single market in 1993, in outward-looking cities committed to European integration and economic globalization, as shown by the chronology of the establishment of GAA clubs in continental Europe:
-1978: Luxemburg, one of the founding members of the European Union and headquarters to numerous Community bodies; -1980: Brussels, where the club was aptly named European Communities Gaelic Club; -1984: The Hague (Sassenheim, to be entirely accurate); -1994: Paris, ten years after The Hague; -2001: Munich and Barcelona, seven years later; -2002: Zürich; -2003: Amsterdam, Budapest, Madrid, Prague and Brussels again; -2004: Vienna and Copenhagen.
In addition to these, three more GAA sports clubs were founded in three different places for very similar reasons over the same period of time, in Jersey and Guernsey - which the GAA considers as “European” - in 1993 and 1996 respectively, as well as in Marbella (Spain) in 2002. None of these places played any significant role in the development of the European Union, but as far as the two islands mentioned are concerned, they provide numerous and profitable job opportunities for young graduates in finance and information technology, just like the mainland European cities already cited; and they have the additional advantage
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of having English as their common language. So much so that thousands of Irish citizens have been living in the Channel Islands for some time. Jersey Irish emerged from the Jersey Irish Society104, and Guernsey Gaels was created by Irish enthusiasts of Gaelic football living on the island105. Marbella is somewhat different, inasmuch as the Andalusian town had no significant institutional or economic role, be it in Europe or elsewhere, and did not offer great job opportunities for young graduates. However, the Celtic Tiger-Ryan Air combination has also made for a strong and active Irish presence on the Costa del Sol. Indeed, the Irish Club Marbella is one of the most active promoters of Irish culture in Spain, and Costa Gaels – the local GAA sports club - is nearly one hundred per cent Irish106.
Therefore, this expansion, initially at least, is very similar to what happened in all the places where the Irish emigrated in the 19th century. Indeed, the playing of GAA sports abroad still gives Irish exiles who wish to maintain some connection with the home country the opportunity to exercise and socialize with established exiles. This is very much in keeping with one of the main tenets of the GAA, which places the community at the heart of its “values”. This is especially valuable for new arrivals who might be looking for accommodation, a job or help to negotiate unfamiliar administrative procedures. This role was duly and officially recognized back in 2013 by the launch of the Global Games Development Fund, a partnership between the GAA and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which provides funding for initiatives aiming at developing Gaelic games across the world as part of its Emigrant Support Programme set up in 2004 to assist Irish citizens living abroad.
104https://gaelicgameseurope.com/clubs/france/jersey-irish/ (accessed March 6, 2020). 105“It’s a new GAA”, 2013, http://admin.sportsmanager.ie/cake/gaa2/limerick/news/294011/ (accessed March 6, 2020). 106http://www.planet-ireland.com/city/marbella/listing/costa-gaels-gaa- club/ (accessed November 14, 2017).
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The Celtic input
After Paris, the next two French clubs were founded in Brittany in Rennes in 1998 and Brest in 1999, the two main towns of the westernmost region of France. These clubs do not follow the original (European) pattern. Indeed, Rennes, the capital city of its administrative region, is neither an institutional nor an economic player of any major European importance. Moreover, the vagaries of the local climate ensure that the local airport is not overwhelmed with international low-cost flights, making the Irish community very small.
Be that as it may, in Rennes, the impetus to establish a Gaelic sport club came from an Irishman, a language tutor with the school of Breton and Celtic languages at the Université de Haute Bretagne, together with a handful of Irish expatriates whom he would meet at the local Irish pub. As a popular meeting place for the community the pub is at the centre of the European Gaelic football culture. Indeed, a perusal of the pages of all the member clubs on the Gaelic Games Europe’s website (https://gaelicgameseurope.com/clubs/) shows that many clubs were created out of meetings and late-night discussions that took place in pubs or bars, sometimes encouraged by owners with business acumen. Indeed, all the GAA clubs in continental Europe are sponsored by one and sometimes two pubs and/or a brewer or distiller. In Vannes, on the southern coast of Brittany, the emblem of the local GAA club even depicts the toucan so closely associated with Guinness, the emblematically Irish “black stuff”.
Brest, at the tip of the peninsula, some two hundred kilometers west of Rennes, is a very similar city in terms of international standing and population, with even more rain. There, the impulse came from Irish and French nationals belonging in Blas Ceilteach, the local association for the promotion of Irish culture, which is a member of Sked, the umbrella organization (named after the Breton for “radiate”) that coordinates and develops everything relating to Breton language and culture in the Brest area.
What strikes the researcher most when looking at the Rennes and Brest clubs as well as the eight other Breton
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clubs that appeared in their wake is the local or regional appropriation of the Irish game. Indeed, Les Oies Sauvages are officially known as Ar Gwazi Gouez, the Breton for Wild Geese, and the Brest Gaelic sports club is always referred to by its “Anglo-Breton” name: Gaelic Football Bro Leon, with “Bro” meaning “country” or “region”, and Léon being the name of the most northerly and westerly of the nine historical provinces of Brittany, of which Brest is the capital. Similarly, the Saint-Brieuc club, established in 2009, is called Gaelic Football Bro Sant-Brieg, as a direct reference to the historical Pays de Saint-Brieuc, and the Quimper club, founded in 2010, is called Kerne Football Gaélique, with Kerne meaning (French) Cornwall, (Pays de) Cornouaille. In a similar fashion, the Vannes club (which was established in 2008) is called Gwened Vannes Football Gaélique, somewhat tautological as the Breton “Gwened” actually means Vannes. As to the Guérande club, which was formed in the same year, it also chose the Breton name of the town: Gwenrann Football Gaélique. This is all the more remarkable since Breton is disappearing fast, and apart from Gouren (Breton wrestling), which is the only distinctly Breton sport in existence, no other sport makes any explicit use of Breton. Only four Breton Gaelic football clubs have no Breton in their names: Liffré, Plédran (dissolved in 2019), Lorient (home to the famous annual Festival Interceltique) and the newly created (2019) Celtics Fougères GAA, a spinoff of Liffré.
The fact that the Nantes club belongs in the Breton Gaelic football federation, even though Nantes is the administrative capital city of the Pays de la Loire region, whereas its Angers neighbour - also part of Pays de la Loire and a bare 90 kilometers farther east - is not, also illustrates the cultural dimension with which Gaelic football is imbued within Brittany. All the more so since the Anjou Gaels are said to have actually been refused participation in this organization. Indeed, before it was separated from the other four Breton departments (Finistère, Morbihan, Côtes d’Armor and Ille et Vilaine) by the Vichy government in 1941, the Loire- Atlantique department was part of Brittany; Nantes, its administrative centre, was the capital city of the Duchy. Since then, Breton campaigners have been seeking reunification, rather like Irish campaigners agitating for the reunification of the six counties of Ulster which are part of
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the United Kingdom with the thirty-two-county Republic. This is bad luck for Gaélique Angers Football 49, whose nearest rival (Gaelic football club Niort) is a two-hour drive south of the city, and their second nearest rival is a further two-hour drive south to Bordeaux.
Geographically speaking, Ireland is very close to Brittany, and culturally, both areas share a common Celtic heritage. The fact that such closeness helped Gaelic football expand into Brittany goes without saying. David Hassan107 points out that Breton is the only Celtic language which does not have official status in its home country, and that this has brought about a cultural revival which excited growing interest in other Celtic cultures. He also notes that the two entities have a common destiny: both having been subject to centralizing and homogenizing authorities that denied them their specific identity, even though Ireland has somewhat (if partially) succeeded in regaining management of its own affairs, Brittany has not.
The ethnic appropriation
According to Hassan, who cites Catalonia as an example, it is not so much the Celtic nature as the ethnic dimension of the GAA that accounts for the popularity of Gaelic sports in Brittany. This can also be verified in France, where Gaelic football does seem to be a sport of choice to mediate an acute sense of regional identity bordering on the ethnic. This is what the “bougnats” (the name given to the people who moved from rural Auvergne into Paris at the end of the 19th century) of the Clermont Gaelic Football Club (2008) confirm. The club’s emblem immediately and unmistakably singles them out as Auvergnats or Auvergnates – Auvergne being one of the regions of France with the keenest sense of identity.
107 HASSAN, 2007.
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Emblem of the Clermont Gaelic Football Club108
Emblem meant to “reinforce the identity of the female team”109
This is also true of Gaelic Football Provence whose “Provençal identity” occupies first place in the club’s manifesto, which is named after the region in which it is situated rather than a city or village. This regional club has designed for itself “a badge that celebrates the local colours and symbols”, especially the Camargue bull, and has adopted a motto - ab obice saevior (“stronger when opposed” or “resistance only makes him attack more ferociously”) – which is “also that of the Duchy of Gadagne, a few miles from Avignon, where seven young Provençal poets created Le Félibrige in 1854 to defend and develop the local language and culture110”.
108http://www.footballgaelique.fr/club/clermont-gaelic-football-club/ (accessed March 6, 2020). 109http://www.footballgaelique.fr/il-veut-dire-quoi-ton-blason-clermont- gaelic-football-club/ (accessed March 6, 2020). 110http://www/gfprovence.fr/qui-sommes-nous/le-club/ (accessed November 14, 2017).
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Emblem of Gaelic Football Provence111
Likewise, the Toulouse club, founded in 2010, has chosen a Provençal name: Tolosa Dèsport Gaelic. As for the Bordeaux club (founded in 2013) - Burdigaela - it takes its name after the Roman name of the city (Burdigala). It will probably never be known whether it was chosen as a means of playing on words and pointing to the Gaelic or Irish nature of the sport or of situating the club, its ethos, in some other place or period. Probably both. However, the Lugdunum CLG (Club de Loisir Gaélique) of Lyon (established in 2008) clearly decided to draw upon the Gallic past of the city.
The GAA has thrived on a vision of Ireland as an ethnic nation enjoying a rural way of life and resisting everything that Great Britain stood for: urbanization and Protestantism, as well as commercialism and professionalism, as made clear by Cusack in his famous 1884 declaration. This is the reason why amateurism has become such a sacred cow in the sports association and probably the reason why it has long had no actual wish for international expansion. In mainland Europe, this romanticized vision of Ireland is even stronger than in the Irish Republic itself and the strong ethnic sentiment that pervades the GAA seems to be one of the main reasons behind its expansion in Europe in general and north-western Spain and France in particular.
The sport dimension
The formation of the Sens-de-Bretagne GAA sports Club, in 2004 – in the same year that GAA clubs were founded in Vienna and Copenhagen and just one year after Amsterdam, Budapest, Madrid, Prague and Brussels – is a strong departure from the original expansion pattern of the game and marks the final phase of the acculturation of Gaelic football in continental Europe thus far. Indeed, as a small
111https://www.facebook.com/GaelicFCProvence (accessed March 6, 2020).
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village of 1,789 inhabitants at the time112, 35 kilometres to the North-West of Rennes, it has nothing in common with the capital cities mentioned, and none of the four people behind its creation - Bruno Coubrun, Eric Poussin, Grégory Lamade and Didier Periou – is Irish. Furthermore, there is no evidence whatsoever that they had any Celtic agenda.
The club lasted only two years, but Didier Periou, together with Olivier Kowarski, also a Physical Education (PE) teacher, who had been playing with the team ever since its formation, immediately started another club 23 kilometers away in Liffré, the Entente Gaélique de Haute-Bretagne (EGHB). Liffré is bigger than Sens-de-Bretagne but still has only some 7,500 inhabitants today. Yet it is closer to Rennes, however slightly so, and has developed strong links with INSA (Institut national des sciences appliquées) school of engineers, where Pierre Lagadec started Gaelic football as a means of confronting his students with unknown situations. Indeed, Kowarski gave extra classes there, and a lot of INSA students and former students play for EGHB. This certainly helped the Liffré club win twelve of the fifteen Breton championships ever held as well as four of the eight Breton Cups. But what helped it most is probably the change of focus brought about by Kowarski and fellow PE teachers, which resulted in Liffré, whose chairperson, Philippe Cornilleau, also teaches PE, becoming the first Breton club to win the French title and the first French side to achieve this feat without a single Irishman on the team. Unsurprisingly, Kowarski has been the coach of the French men’s team ever since its first official international game against Italy in Toulouse on 15 November 2014, a French women’s team playing its first international on the same day against the same country. At the Dublin World Games in 2016, in the non-natives competition, France lost to New York in the men’s final.
Even though he very much enjoys his numerous trips to Ireland and is very interested in its people and history, Kowarski had no prior knowledge of Irish culture and has developed a passion for the sport itself - the agility, balance, coordination, running and jumping skills it develops, rather
112https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sens-de-Bretagne (accessed March 6, 2020).
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than what it represents. He was made a master coach in 2011 (“Master Coach at the forefront France growth”, 2017), together with Anna-Marie O'Rourke, a native Irish nurse and a member of Ar Gwazi Gouez, and Tangi An Ostiz, who is an active member of Kerne Football Gaélique and a committed supporter of Breton culture and language, but also a PE teacher at the Breton-speaking Diwan school of Quimper where he was educated, and the coach of the Breton team. The teaching of Gaelic football at school level was started by PE teachers Jean-Paul Laborde then Rémi Larbarbe in 2008 at Lycée Victor & Hélène Basch in Rennes, as part of an interdisciplinary pedagogical project aimed at students following a specific bilingual course in preparation for the international baccalaureate113. Gaelic football was recognized by the controlling body for arts, sport and physical education of the Academy of Rennes, which has jurisdiction over the four Breton departments, in 2008, and since 2015 PE teachers across France have been allowed to teach through any sport rather than those on an approved list as previously. Thanks to this and the numerous coaching modules/courses Kowarski has led, it is now estimated that 100 PE teachers offer Gaelic football as part of their curriculum.
Conclusion
The first Gaelic football club ever established in mainland Europe, in Brussels, forty years ago, has been emulated throughout the continent. However, the reasons behind the formation of a GAA club have evolved over time. At first, they were created by Irish exiles in big cities of Northern Europe committed to European integration and economic globalization, as meeting places for Irish expatriates, maintaining a link with the home country and helping one another. Then Gaelic football opened up to native players in smaller towns with a small Irish diaspora, in regions sharing a common Celtic heritage with Ireland. However, the David- and-Goliath mythology surrounding Ireland has also ensured that Gaelic clubs sprang up in regions with no Celtic heritage yet a strong regional sense of identity, as a means of
113 Interview with Olivier Kowarski, Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier, June 8, 2018.
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mediating cultural particularisms. Nowadays, some clubs do not have a single Irish member and many players have no prior interest in celticism, regionalism or even Ireland for that matter. For the 2018-19 season, the Fédération française de football gaélique boasted 804 players of whom a mere 64 are Irish citizens114.
114 General Assembly of the Fédération française de football gaélique, June 9, 2019, Vannes.
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Creation BRETAGNE HORS BRETAGNE 1994 Paris (75) Paris Gaels GAA 1995 1996 1997 1998 Rennes (35) Rennes Ar Gwazi Gouez 1999 Brest (29) Gaelic Football Bro-Leon
2000 2001 2002 2003 Liffré (35) Entente gaélique de Haute-Bretagne Merdrignac (22) † mai
2004 2006 Association du FG de Merdrignac Bains-sur-Oust (35) † Gaelic Football Club de Bains
juin 2007 Nominoë 2005 2006 Nantes (44) NEC Football Gaélique 2007 Vannes (56) Gwened Vannes Football Gaélique Lyon (69) Lugdunum CLG 2008 Saint-Quay-Perros (22)
† mai 2010 Gaelic Football Bro Dreger Lempdes/Clermont Dragons Eire'Lempdais 2009 Guérande (44) Gwenrann Football Gaélique (63) Saint-Brieuc (22) Gaelic Football Bro Sant-Brieg 2010 Toulouse (31) Tolosa Despòrt Gaelic
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2011 Locronan/Quimper (29) Kerne Football Gaélique Niort (79) Gaelic Football Club Niort Saint-Malo (35) † oct 2011 Dogues Gaelic Football Club 2012 Lorient (56) Lorient Gaelic Athletic Club Coutances (50)en sommeil GFC Pays de Coutances Plounévez-Moëdec Lille Football Gaélique (22)en sommeil Gaelic Football Bro Dreger Lille (59) 2013 Bordeaux (33) Burdigaela Naives-Rosières (55)* Football Gaélique de Naives 2014 Plédran (22) † mai 2018 Plédran Gaelic Football Club 2015 Aix en Provence (13) Gaelic Football Provence Angers (49) Gaélique Angers Football 49 Antibes (06) Azur Gaels 2016 2017 Vierzon† déplacé à Arthon Berry Gaelic Football Club 2018 Mondeville Football Gaélique Mondeville 2019 Fougères (35) Celtics Fougères GAA Arthon Gaelic Football Club d'Arthon *Club en sursis qui ne compte que7 licenciés
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FUTURE PROJECT
Ireland’s Power : Potential and Limitations
International Conference
Paris 2022
According to Joseph Nye, ‘Soft Power’ is a concept used in reference to ‘the country’s co-optive power, which is its ability to shape preferences of other nations through cultural attraction and seduction’. Soft power thus arises from ‘intangible, immaterial resources such as the country’s culture, political ideas and ideologies’ (Nye 2011, 31). This conference will explore this concept in relation to the Irish diaspora.
This international conference will explore the following questions:
-The sources of Ireland’s soft power (culture, brands etc.) and how they are being converted into soft power. -In what concrete way the Irish diaspora’s networks contribute to fostering Irish soft power in non-English speaking countries. -How do the Irish authorities connect and get the diaspora to cooperate with them? -The role of digital media in reaching out to diaspora communities in emerging economies and non-English speaking countries. -The potential but also the limits of soft power in the Irish context. -Tax haven or economic success? Branding and rebranding Ireland, a challenge in reputation management. -The difficulties in setting up public diplomacy strategies and measuring their impact.
We will invite proposals from the following fields: Irish studies, diaspora studies, international relations, diplomatic studies, political science, history, marketing, international political economy, media studies. We will also accept comparative studies.
70 APPENDICES
Appendix 1
Table: Cohort size and gender together with successive filters
Respondents details Filter Total Men Women 154 32 122 1) Incomplete survey 150 31 119 2) Geographic origin 142 28 113 missing or inappropriate* 3) First-year only** 122 24 98
* First year students who studied outside metropolitan France (or who did not properly answered the question regarding their previous school year location).
** Respondents were excluded either because they were repeating students or coming for a previous year in another college or diploma.
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Appendix 2
Survey structure and questions (in French)
Section 1 : Profil Sexe Age Quelle est votre année de naissance ? Quel est votre couple de langues ? Dans quel département avez-vous effectué vos années lycée (Première et Terminale) ? Est-ce votre première année dans l'enseignement supérieur ? Section 2 : Association idées Irlande115 Quelles sont les trois premières choses que vous associez à l'Irlande ? Si d'autres choses vous viennent en tête, pouvez-vous les rajouter ci-dessous ? Section 3 : Informations complémentaires profil Etes-vous déjà allé(e) en Irlande ? Si oui, pouvez-vous m'indiquer les raisons (voyage scolaire, vacances, etc.), l'année et la durée de votre séjour ? Pouvez-vous me dire les lieux ou attractions que vous avez visités ? Si vous n'êtes jamais allé(e) en Irlande, pourriez-vous m'expliquer pourquoi ? Section 4 : Connaissances diverses sur l’Irlande Citez-moi au moins une chose (ou plusieurs) sur l'histoire de l'Irlande. Où avez-vous appris ces choses sur l'histoire de l'Irlande ? (exemples : lycée, lecture, site web ; voyage ; merci de préciser) Pourriez-vous me citer un auteur ou un livre irlandais ? Si oui, merci d'indiquer ci-dessous le nom de cet auteur, de ce livre (plusieurs éléments sont possibles) Pourriez-vous m'indiquer le titre d'un film irlandais ? Si oui, vous pouvez inscrire votre/vos film(s) ci-dessous : Pourriez-vous me donner le nom d'un groupe de musique
115 Next year, a question will try to find out if respondents know where Ireland is. In the late 1960s, a study done in France showed that French people did not know wher eexactly Ireland stood geographically, and that people had difficulties between North and South (at a time of the Troubles though). See D. Dumortier, “L’Image de l’Irlande”, op. cit., p. 86.
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irlandais ? Si oui, Vous pouvez inscrire votre/vos groupe(s) ou chanteur(s) ci-dessous : Section 5 : Conclusion Enfin, souhaiteriez-vous visiter l'Irlande dans les prochaines années ? Si oui, pourriez-vous m’expliquer brièvement les raisons pour lesquelles vous souhaiteriez visiter l'Irlande ? Si vous souhaitez ajouter quelque chose d'autre, vous pouvez le faire ci-dessous :
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Appendix 3
Ranks Category 1 Main occurrence Category 2 Main occurrence Category 3 Main occurrence 1 Saints/Folklore, the Saint Patrick, or Saints/Folklore, the Saint Patrick, or Saints/Folklore, the Saint Patrick, or festive and traditions Saint Patrick’s day festive and traditions Saint Patrick’s day festive and traditions Saint Patrick’s day (25/34) (10/25), leprechauns (13/23) (6/25) 2 Geography/Capital Dublin (14/17), Drinks 12/19 for beer, and Landscape 9/17 hits on city Belfast (1/17) 2/19 explicitly on landscape, and 3 Guinness Connemara lake/area 3 Drinks Beer (11/15) + extra General remarks 2/15 each for sheep Drinks 11/17 for beer 1 Guinness and weather 4 History (12 hits) but no real Symbols 12/15 on Symbols 14/15 on conclusive shamrock/clover, 2 shamrock/clover occurrence of a on flag specific term 5 Symbols 11 hits, 10/11 on Geography/Capital 7/12 for Dublin General remarks 13 hits clover city 6 Sports Rugby (8/10), 1 History 4/12 on potato Sports 6/10 on rugby, 3/10 Gaelic Football and famine/blight on McGregor 1 McGregor 7 Landscape 4/8 min. Landscape 11 hits with plane, Geography/Capital 9/9 on Dublin landscape with or no city hills, and 1 Connemara lake 7 The Green colour Green (4/5) but no The Green colour Green 6/6 History 3/5 potato blight specificity
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Appendix 4
Figure 1: Source of knowledge – (by reply preference)
90 85 80 75 9 70 65 60 55 50 45 40 35 72 30 25 20 2 15 9 10 2 4 5 2 5 11 0 3 2 2 5 8 7 3 2
Choix 1 Choix 2 Choix 3
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NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
Vanessa Boullet is Lecturer of Irish Studies and Business Language at the University of Lorraine (Nancy) where she has been teaching in the Business and Languages Department (Langues Etrangères Appliqués) since her appointment in September 2010. She defended her doctoral studies on ‘Planning in Ireland (1958-1972) in 2008. Since then, her research focuses on developing the on the role of the Irish State during economic crises and the economic development of Ireland. She is also very active on promoting the Business and Languages degrees through her involvement in ANLEA, the National Association of Applied Forign languages.
Laurent Daniel is a lecturer at the University of Southern Brittany, in Lorient (France), specializing in Irish sports. He has published a lot on greyhound sports, in both English and French (Des lévriers et des hommes : de la Grande-Bretagne à l’Irlande, 2013), and is now writing on GAA sports outside of the Republic of Ireland.
Erick Falc'her-Poyroux is a Senior lecturer in English and head of the language department at Polytech Nantes, the engineering school of the University of Nantes. He completed his PhD on "Ireland's musical identity" in 1996 and has translated or written several books on Ireland, including the most recent "Histoire sociale de la musique irlandaise" (Peter Lang, 2018, 602 pp.). He is also the author of a 26-minute video documentary on Irish music in France and has collaborated with the National Archives of French Television (INA) on a multimedia presentation of Irish dancing.
Anne Groutel is a Senior Lecturer at University Paris 1 Panthéon- Sorbonne. She is a member of the Center for Research on the English- Speaking world (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3). She spent seven years in Belfast before starting a career in academia. In 2003, she published a book on economic cooperation between the two Ireland. She also edited a book on the transatlantic economic relationship between the US, Ireland and the UK and has written a number of papers on Ireland and the process of economic globalisation. Her forthcoming book on the two Irelands and the diaspora will be published at the start of 2021.
Julien Guillaumond is a lecturer in English at Clermont-Auvergne University. He holds a PhD in Irish studies from Sorbonne University on social and economic inequalities in 20th century Ireland. He is a member of the research lab Communication and Sociétés, and is currently part of the GIS EIRE research network. His research interests include citizenship and
76 The Reputation of Ireland in France
inequality issues in contemporary societies as well as various aspects of Irish political, economic and social history. He is currently working on diaspora issues in Ireland and France, together with identity representations and development with a particular focus on Irish tourism and nation branding.
Grainne O’Keeffe-Vigneron is Senior Lecturer at the Université Rennes 2, France. She completed her PhD on the Irish in England and their fight for recognition as an ethnicity minority in the 2001 British Census. She has co- edited a collection in the Reimagining Ireland Series, entitled Ireland and Victims: Confronting the Past, Forging the Future, Peter Lang, 2012, with Lesley Lelourec. She is currently working on the Irish diaspora in France and is co-directing, “Les diasporas irlandaises : enjeux économiques, migrations, integration” as part of a national research project in Irish studies in France (Groupement d’Intérêt Scientifique (G.I.S EIRE)) and has recently completed a report on the Irish in France for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Dublin. She published an article on this subject in the 2019 issue of Studi Irlandesi entitled, ‘The Irish in France: Assessing Changes in the Profile of Irish Emigrants over the last 30 years’.