Vice-President to don the ’Bridge jersey

Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping visited Clare last weekend as part of his visit to Ireland. Owen Ryan reports

VICE-President Xi Jinping is now the owner of a Sixmilebridge jersey, following his visit to Lynch’s farm last Sunday morning.
He was also given a painting with an agricultural theme, while the Chinese delegation presented gifts to James Lynch’s children, James, Olive and Ronan.
Speaking to The Clare Champion, Mr Lynch said he had been asked if the farm could be used for an important visit some weeks ago but hadn’t been aware of how significant the visitor was.
“Approximately two weeks ago I heard about it. I was contacted by An Bord Bia. They said there was a very important dignitary coming to the country and would I make my farm available. I said if they needed it they could have it but preferably, maybe find somewhere else. The Chinese ambassador came to visit it and he said he’d definitely like to use it. I had no problem with it but at that stage I had no idea it was Mr Xi. All I knew was it was a very important person from China.”
Saturday was quite cold and he was worried there would be frost on the ground first thing on Sunday but happily that wasn’t the case.
“The day came very fast and we were very fortunate that it was a lovely morning. There was frost on the grass and I was a little bit concerned that it mightn’t be burned off but when he came it was well gone. It was important that we try to sell the green image of what we have in Ireland. He came, he went down and he was interested in the housing facility and wanted to know how long the cows are housed.
“He was asking about the silage and how it was made and was it imported or grown on the farm. I explained to him about the grass growth in Ireland and how we get a lot of growth in the months of April and May. He was very interested in it.”
The Vice-President was very knowledgeable, he said. “Definitely, you’d know the man has a background in agriculture and he was keen on it.”
As was widely reported, a newly-born calf at the farm is to be called after Mr Xi. “That calf was born on Saturday night. I went to the banquet (in Bunratty) and when I came back it was born. The ambassador came down and there had been three or four born that day and we showed them to him. He said that it’d be lovely if there was a freshly-born calf for him because he has a keen interest in agriculture.”
He said he hopes products from his farm end up in China. “With all the extra production that’s going to come in Ireland, it’s very important. It’s a market we have to try and get our hands around.”
Minister Simon Coveney accompanied the Vice-President on Sunday and he said the visit to Lynch’s farm was valuable.
“Unlike milk production in most parts of the world, Irish farmers produce milk from a grass-based system, which offers a unique selling point in terms of sustainability and quality control. Having the opportunity to bring the Chinese Vice-President to a family farm in Ireland will leave a lasting and positive impression of the natural source of Irish agfood products,” he concluded.

 

 

Visit aims to deepen ‘traditional friendship’

AS Mr Xi’s plane touched the Shannon tarmac, a major logistical operation began.
While it was possible for people in Clare to get reasonably close to the Chinese Vice-President, there was still a very substantial police presence surrounding him. There were also a number of officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Chinese diplomatic staff.
There were 17 vehicles waiting to collect him and his entourage from the Shannon runway, most of them either BMW or Mercedes cars, but with a few buses also in the motorcade.
Upon arrival, the Chinese staff distributed a press release to the assembled journalists, telling them how pleased their man was to be here.
“I am delighted to pay an official visit to the beautiful country of Ireland known as the ‘Emerald Isle’ at the invitation of Prime Minister Enda Kenny. The main purpose of my visit is to deepen the traditional friendship between our two peoples and take our bilateral relations and practical co-operation forward,” it read.
His statement also said strong links between the two countries are valuable. “Ireland has rich history and culture, as well as amazing natural beauty. It is a success story of moving, in a short period of time, from an agro-pastoral economy to a knowledge economy. It plays an active role in the European Union and international affairs.
“In the past 33 years, since we established diplomatic relations, China-Ireland ties have progressed smoothly on the basis of mutual respect and equality, setting an example of friendly co-existence between countries different in size, social system and cultural tradition. China values its relations with Ireland and hopes to consolidate our traditional friendship, expand exchanges and co-operation in all fields and take our bilateral relations to a new level.”

 

Great potential in Chinese market

WHILE the Cliffs of Moher came up short in its quest to be named as one of the new Seven Wonders of Nature, the visit of Vice-President Xi, opens up a huge amount of potential.
That’s the view of director, Katherine Webster, who met him there last Sunday morning, along with Mayor of Clare Pat Hayes and county manager, Tom Coughlan.
She said they had been lucky with the conditions. “The weather was fantastic. It was the best we would have had all year. Mr Xi and the party came just after 10am and we went up to the main viewing area. We took it in and we told him about the history of it and the genealogy.”
Funnily enough, Mr Xi recognised some of the scenery from a certain 2009 blockbuster. “They were all very impressed with what they saw. He said he had wanted to come to the Cliffs and he said he thought he had seen it in a movie. We said they were in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.”
Ms Webster said the numbers coming to the Cliffs from China have shown growth in recent times. “Chinese numbers have gone up over the last year and we had five groups from there in the week of Chinese New Year in January, which is a fairly quiet time of the year.”
She said there is huge potential in the Chinese market. “There are relatively small numbers but the market is massive and growth is strong. We have been working with Tourism Ireland and we have been out there twice to promote it. The visit is beneficial because the footage will be all over China.”
Ms Webster said the Vice-President spoke about developing links between Chinese geoparks and the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren. Before he left, he was presented with a print of the Cliffs in a Liscannor slate frame.
Councillor Hayes also presented Mr Xi with some CDs of Irish music, including some of his brother Martin’s work. “It was a great opportunity to talk to him about tourism and he was very interested in Clare and the landscape,” the mayor said.

China-Shannon link highlighted

VICE-President Xi’s visit to Shannon was of huge value, an ebullient Dr Vincent Cunnane told The Clare Champion minutes after seeing him off from Shannon Development’s head office on Saturday afternoon.
“This is worth millions. The potential of it is so large that we haven’t really got to the bottom of what could come out of it – the fact that he left Los Angeles and a meeting with President Obama and his next port of call was Shannon Airport and the Shannon Free Zone. He gave an invitation to come to China and to work together. It’s a massive opportunity,” the Shannon Development CEO said.
Dr Cunnane said Mr Xi was very knowledgeable about Shannon and its links to China’s development. “The links were reiterated today with the Vice-President telling us the impact that Shannon Free Zone had on the Special Economic Zones. The four original Special Economic Zones were modelled on the Shannon Free Zone and he was reiterating that and not only looking to the past but to the future, how we can build relationships together to benefit both China and Shannon.
“He was very up-to-date on Shannon. It is part of the economic history of China and he is very aware of that. That is why he asked to come here specifically today.”
The Shannon Development head said the visit would be positive for both industry and tourism. “We certainly pushed the tourism aspect today and we also pushed the industry for Chinese companies coming to Ireland, to access the European markets. This is what they’re looking to do now. As they move out of China they have to get access points into Europe and Shannon is the ideal place for that to happen.
“He (Mr Xi) has a huge following. This will be all over the news in China. It puts us in a unique position to benefit from this. It’s not about the past, it’s about how we’re going to build a future link with China in Shannon.”
Dr Cunnane presented Mr Xi with a piece of 5,600-year-old bog oak, carved into a Celtic energy symbol.
Asked if Mr Xi’s visit was potentially more significant that those of either the Queen or President Obama, Dr Cunnane said it offers a link to a new and growing market.
“We have long established links that we want to maintain with North America and the UK but this is an entirely new market and we only have to capture a small percentage of that market to overwhelm other markets. The potential of the growing middle class in China, with the disposable income that they have, they are now looking to come out of China for their holidays and Ireland offers a great opportunity for that. The type of attractors that we have, the wide open spaces and the greenness is, as one delegate, said, ‘Nirvana’.”
In a statement, Mr Xi paid tribute to Shannon Development. “Many Chinese delegations came to visit here to learn experience and they were deeply impressed. Shannon Development has played a helpful role in broadening their horizons, exploring new ideas and promoting economic development.
“Ireland and China have complementary economic advantages. The two sides should further strengthen mutual learning, deepen mutually-beneficial co-operation and make unremitting efforts for the long-term, healthy and stable development of bilateral relations.”

 

Garda response ‘wrong and unnecessary’

A FORMER Mayor of Clare has criticised gardaí for their approach to his daughter’s protest at the Cliffs of Moher last Sunday morning.
Flan Garvey said the response of the gardaí to his daughter, who made a solitary protest against Mr Xi’s visit, was “totally wrong and unnecessary”. However, gardaí have denied that she was dealt with in an inappropriate fashion.
Sinéad Ní Ghairbhith went to the Cliffs to protest in favour of Tibetan freedom. “I drove to the Cliffs and I parked in the public car park. I went in through the entrance and I started walking towards him and as I got closer, policemen ran to me, caught my arms and folded them behind my back and forced me out the exit.”
She had brought a small sign with her with the slogan ‘Free Tibet’ and she claimed this was taken from her.
“They broke my sign and they wouldn’t give it back to me. I was quite shook and I had only seen that level of control before when I lived in Tibet. I couldn’t believe it. How could they not let me stand there with one sign?”
Ms Ní Ghairbhith denied reports she had passed through a police cordon. She said she had not made any formal complaint against gardaí and that if she did it would be “just my word against theirs”.
Her father, Flan, served on Clare County Council for many years and had a stint as mayor of the county in 2006 and 2007.
He said he felt his daughter’s right to protest was infringed upon. “It was totally wrong and unnecessary and I think in a democracy there is the right to protest. She was protesting peacefully and she had the right to be there and to make her thoughts known. I don’t think it took four men to remove one women.”
He was complimentary to a guard who asked her if she was okay afterwards but felt the matter was “wrongly handled”.
Despite the complaints, SuperIntendent Colm O’Sullivan of Ennistymon Garda Station said the gardaí did not act improperly. “She was not treated unfairly and if she feels she was treated roughly she is quite welcome to go to the Garda Ombudsman.”
In Shannon, another young woman made a solitary protest outside the offices of Shannon Development. While she was kept well back from the Chinese Vice-President, she was allowed to remain in the vicinity, where she held a sign, which also had the simple ‘Free Tibet’ slogan.
She said she just wanted to make a point. “I just did it to show that money is being put before human rights. No one in Shannon knew he was coming and then all of these cars pulled up.”
In advance of Mr Xi’s arrival, Noeleen Hartigan, programmes director of Amnesty International Ireland, said China has a terrible record.
“It is the world’s number one executioner. A minimum of 190,000 people are in ‘administrative detention’, many of them in forced labour camps. Human rights activists are targeted for harassment, arrest and some have even disappeared, while the use of torture is endemic.”
She also said that the Ireland should not let “trade opportunities blind us to our responsibility to support courageous Chinese human rights activists risking their freedom and their lives every single day”.