Павел Баркоўскі. Фота: t.me/CabinetBelarus
A conference titled “Ireland and Belarus: National and Cultural Identity” will take place in Dublin today.
The discussion will focus on what can help Belarusian culture today amid Russification, repression, and forced exile.
Speakers include Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, head of Belarus’s United Transitional Cabinet; Thomas Byrne, Ireland’s Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence; Doireann Ní Ghlacáin, an Irish researcher, journalist, and television presenter; and Donnacha Ó Beacháin, a professor of politics at Dublin City University.
Writers, researchers, and cultural figures from both countries will also take part in the conference.
Pavel Barkouski, representative for national revival at Belarus’s United Transitional Cabinet, explained to Radio Racyja that “this is the first format in which we are organizing a joint conference specifically at the level of Ireland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Why Ireland? Because, in fact, the histories of our peoples are very similar. For many years, both our peoples were victims of colonization by a powerful eastern neighbor. This eastern neighbor conquered territory, imposed its own rules there, and imposed its language. And that language still dominates in Ireland today. Even after 80 years of independence, they have not been able to fully revive the use of the Irish language in society. Most people continue to use English.
That is precisely why this conference is the first step toward cooperation between us.”
In addition to language policy, participants will discuss the continuation of Belarusian-Irish cooperation, particularly in theatre and translation.
For example, with the assistance of Ireland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a series of children’s books by Irish authors has been translated into Belarusian and published by Gutenberg.
“These are the topics that already connect us and can serve as a first step toward further development,” Pavel Barkouski believes.