From Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
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Minister Catherine Martin opens major exhibition to mark the centenary of Ireland joining the League of Nations, heralding its arrival on the world stage.
In what is the final flagship event for the Irish Government’s Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023 programme, a major exhibition which marks the first time Ireland was recognised as a new nation on the world stage will open at the UN Headquarters in New York.
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin, will open the exhibition. Entitled ‘On an Equal Footing with All, Ireland at the League of Nations 1923-1946’ it marks the centenary of Ireland’s membership of the League of Nations, the first worldwide state-level political organisation, created in the aftermath of the First World War.
Ireland joined the League on 10 September 1923, and did so to emphasise that it was a sovereign state and an autonomous actor in world affairs. League membership was an essential part of independent Ireland’s first steps on the international stage.
Speaking ahead of the opening, Minister Catherine Martin said:
“Even before gaining independence from Britain in 1922, the revolutionary Dáil Éireann government had aspired to Ireland joining the League. But it was not until an internationally recognised independent Irish state came into being on 6 December 1922 – the Irish Free State or Saorstát Éireann, as Ireland was then known – that Ireland had the legal and international capacity to join the League of Nations.
“It is, therefore, fitting as we come to the close of the Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023, that we mark this historic event which represented and embodied the vision and ambitions of the emerging Free State, taking its place amongst the nations of the world.
“I am honoured to be opening this important exhibition in New York at the United Nations, the successor institution to the League of Nations. The exhibition and accompanying publication from the National Archives demonstrate the importance of our national collections, and represent new and creative ways for the public to engage with material of an historical nature.
“The legacy of the Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023 has seen a re-imagining of the National Archives and its role in preserving the precious records of the State since its foundation.”
The exhibition is presented by the National Archives, in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Royal Irish Academy. It features records from the National Archives which relate to Ireland’s membership of the League, many of which have never been on public display. These records include official documents, photographs, recollections, letters and ephemera, and chart the exciting early adventures of the new State as it began to forge an international position for itself.
Also included in the exhibition is a special feature on Harry Clarke’s Geneva Window, commissioned by the Cosgrave Government in 1929 as a gift from the Irish State for the new International Labour Organisation building in Geneva. The window consisted of vignettes from 19 Irish writers, but when it was completed in 1930, it was rejected by the Irish Government due to concerns about its content being perceived as being ‘immoral’. Clarke died before any changes could be made to the window, which was eventually returned to his widow.
From its earliest years in the League of Nations, Ireland advocated a peaceful world order and the settlement of international disputes by peaceful means. These were the key goals of the League and Ireland knew that, as a small state which lacked great military and economic power, membership of a group of like-minded states such as the young League of Nations, was its best chance of surviving, and thriving, on the world stage.
During the Minister’s brief two-day visit to the city she will meet key New York-based cultural leaders who have provided opportunities for Irish artists to present at festivals and venues with the support of Culture Ireland. The Minister will also tour the Irish Arts Centre, the flagship venue for Irish arts and culture in North America, and receive an update on its capital programme. In September 2023, a further €2 million was provided by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media to support the renovation of the original Irish Arts Center building on 51st Street.
Minister Martin will also be meeting with Tourism Ireland officials to discuss the extensive programme of promotions under way in the United States until year end, as well as prospects for 2024 from the important US market.
The outlook for tourism from the United States next year is positive – particularly given recent announcements about air access for 2024, including the decision by JetBlue to fly to Ireland for the first time, with direct daily flights to Dublin from New York JFK and Boston airports set to launch in the spring.
The National Archives preserves the memory of the State in the form of its written records. It acquires and protects Ireland’s public records, thereby ensuring their availability as a resource for all. These records relate to the social, cultural, economic and political history of the island of Ireland from the Middle Ages through to the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922 and into the modern era.
The exhibition is accompanied by a publication of the same title, On an Equal Footing with All, Ireland at the League of Nations 1923-1946, to encourage both historical enquiry and an understanding of the impact and legacy of the events that helped shape the State.
Exhibition dates:
United Nations Headquarters, 405, East 42nd St., New York, 10017
21 November to 2 December 2023
Admission free.