Promotion of culture as an important element in international relations

The importance of culture in Ireland’s external relations has long been recognised and by extension, Ireland recognises the clear benefits to the European Union in deploying culture as a means of building good relations with its neighbours and global partners. To be effective, this should of course be a two-way process and for that reason, Ireland is a strong advocate of the UNESCO Convention on cultural diversity, being among the first group of contracting parties to the Convention.
At a national level, there is now a growing recognition among key decision-makers at business and political level regarding the importance of culture in developing the external dimension of culture.

Culture Ireland has been established to promote and advance Irish arts in a global context, helping to create international opportunities for Irish artists and cultural practitioners and leading to a deeper mutual understanding between Irish and other cultures and communities.