2. John O'Donnell R.I.P.

Members were shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the sudden death, on 15th February, of our former President, Professor John O'Donnell.

Professor John O'Donnell 3 August 1920 - 15 February 2004 This photo was taken at the the Society's New Year Dinner on 26th January 2004.

The Society extends heartfelt sympathy to his wife Ronnie and the family.

Our tributes to this outstanding individual, who made great contributions in many areas of Irish life, will appear in the next issue of this Newsletter.

3. Christmas Quiz Night

A small group of committed members took part in David Judge's Chinese Quiz. Full marks go to David for an interesting and varied mix of questions, including a music round. Five teams battled it out for the title of Chinese Experts 2003. We were fortunate that each team had the assistance of a native Chinese postgraduate student to assist with some of the more domestic questions.

Having said that, the amount of local knowledge displayed by the team members was exceptional. These table team quizzes are great fun and the rivalry is great craic. My team were in the lead up to the last round but were pipped at the post by my good lady wife and her colleagues. The winning team, seen here, consisted of (l. to r.) Jackie,Julie, Denis and Marian.



David presented the prizes to the winning team, Tea/Coffee and mince pies followed. A great night and a good start to the Christmas Cheer.

4. Our Days with the President

The Presidential State Visit to China

5. Chinese New Year 2004 Dublin

Dublin Chinatown Festival 2004

Well, the whole celebration kicked off on Friday 23rd with a gala dinner hosted by the Irish Chinese Information Centre at City West Hotel, Saggart in County Dublin. Over 600 guests were treated to a buffet meal and Chinese Cultural Show which lasted late into the evening. We were entertained with Lion Dog Dancing, Singers, Dancers, musicians, martial arts displays and a minority costume fashion show. The whole show was kept flowing by the capable compering of Summy Sing Wong and her associates Dodo and Oliver (disc-jockeys of a Chinese radio programme on Anna Livia fm). The night was well supported by the Ireland China Association (the Irish business community with activities in China) who had reserved many of the tables on the night.

Saturday saw the opening of the Dublin China town Festival, a four-day festival in Smithfield in Dublin. The organisers were expecting a reasonable response from the public to this event, having run a similar event in the Summer as a French Celebration which attracted 40,000 people over the four days. However, on this occasion, the first day, Saturday, attracted around 30,000 people while Sunday was a colossal 60,000 people. Full marks must be given to the marketing team for this event to create such a magnificent response, but the down side of such large numbers was the long queue to gain entry into the festival area. Many of the Radio shows gave air time to this event both critical and positive views were expressed. Its certainly puts pressure on next years organising committee to take on board all of the criticisms in their planning for next year's event.

The Dublin Chinatown festival 2004 brought to the city a host of Chinese Cultural activities, Chinese folk, Classic Operatic Singers, Musicians playing traditional Chinese instruments such as the Erhu (a type of violin) and the Zheng (a type of zither). Two visiting Chinese Troupes, The Liaoning Chinese Troupe & the Hunan Troupe from Changsha, provided most of the performances on stage.

The Lord Mayor Cllr. Roysten Brady officially opened the festival and the opening speeches were followed by a Lion Dog Demonstration performed by the Lung Ying Dragon Sign Kung Fu Association.

Many events were hosted at Chief O'Neills Hotel opposite the Smithfield Stage, such activities as Calligraphy, kite making and the making of lucky envelopes( Hong Bao) were hosted by The Chester Beatty Library. The Chinese Embassy kindly provided films for a film festival, and our own Society's members, Tony & Yanyi Blake, kindly repeated for the Festival their wonderful talk on the Silk Road.

6. ICCS New Year Dinner

Just under 100 members, guests and friends joined us for a beautiful evening. The atmosphere, food and craic were again as good as previous years.

Invited guests were: the Chinese Ambassador, His Excellency Sha Hailin, Counsellor Fan Jian, and Cultural Secretary Tang Jiwei from the Chinese Embassy; Donal O’ Callaghan, Chairman of The Ireland China Association, and his wife Miriam; Albert Luk, Vice-President of the Chinese Society of Ireland,and his wife Wendy; Dr Katherine Chan Mullen and Eric Young from the Irish Chinese Information Centre; and Ms Edith Byrne, Principal of Sandford Park School. The Ambassador kindly agreed to speak to those present, winning hearts with the sincerity of his goodwill, and astonishing us with figures about the economic growth of China in the previous year.

Highlights of the night were the warmth and hospitality of the restaurant staff , the quality of the food prepared and the courtesy of the waiting staff ( our special thanks to the management staff of Wongs); the arrival of the Lion Dog to welcome in the new year was good fun;

and the beautiful music played on the Xinzheng (yes, the Xinzheng - a recently developed variant of the Guzheng) by Jiang Miao and Chen Giuyin (Liaoning Musical Troupe) was magical.

Our regular raffle raised its usual share of fun, all combined to make a great evening.

Some of the many pictures taken at the dinner can be viewed HERE

7. Chinese New Year Dinner Kilkenny 31st January 2004

Over 200 people Parents, friends, Children attended this special day hosted by the Irish-Chinese Contact Group. It is amazing to see such a small organisation in under four years grow to be such a huge influence in the area of Irish-Chinese adoption support, its level of coverage now extends throughout the country and its assistance to couples and singles both adopting from China and post adoption issues is immense.

It was a great day celebrating Chinese New Year at the Ormonde hotel Kilkenny. The food and atmosphere were great, The children of which there were plenty had space to run around. The organisers had arranged a bouncing Castle, art and crafts. It was a great day to renew old acquaintenances and meet new friends.

The guests of Honour in Kilkenny were the Lord Mayor Councillor Pat Crotty, His Excellency Sha Hailin Chinese Ambassador to Ireland and two of his staff, Ms Rose Brophy Senior Social Worker with the South Eastern Health Board and John and Mary Ryan of the Irish-Chinese Cultural Society, ICCG Translators Li Liu, Xie and Qin Quishi, founder members Michael & Maretta Brennan and Susan Ryan.

8. 2004 The Year of the Monkey

The Monkey Monkey people are born entertainers. Nobody tells a story or a joke quite like a Monkey. They love pranks and tricks and riddles and are never happier than when performing before an audience. There is a strong element of the show-off in the Monkey's personality but nobody minds because Monkeys are such fun to have around. The original party animal, Monkeys adore social gatherings of all kinds providing that they are light hearted. Sombre events are simply not the Monkey's forte and when things get too serious the Monkey gets naughty. He just can't resist making wisecracks, pulling faces or doing whatever is necessary to brighten things up. If he happens to draw attention to himself in the process so much the better. Yet it is unwise to dismiss the Monkey as a lightweight buffoon. People born in Monkey years possess a keen intelligence and lightening brain. They only become disruptive when they are bored. Give a Monkey a fiendishly difficult puzzle to solve particularly a puzzle which has defeated everyone else and that quick-silver personality turns to solid concentration before your eyes. The Monkey will permit no interruptions until he has mastered the conundrum and master it he will. If a code is crackable, if a lock can be picked, the Monkey will find a way to do it. Witty, amusing, ebullient and energetic the Monkey attracts a great many friends. He is not particularly reliable. Monkeys have so many interests and are so busy dashing around that they rarely have time to consider anyone else. They don't intend to be selfish or hurtful, it's just that their sheer enthusiasm carries them along and they forget everything else until the project of the moment is completed. Monkeys are best suited to fast paced flexible careers where they can exercise their lively minds and satisfy their craving for variety. In fact few Monkeys stay in one job for life. Their natural curiosity and low boredom threshold leads them to try any number of different pursuits. Yet such is the Monkeys Intelligence and adaptability he can make a success of almost any occupation he undertakes - as long as he considers it worth his while. Monkeys are blessed with great self-esteem to the point, at times of arrogance. They believe in themselves and such are there gifts that their belief is usually justified. They are great tinkerers and will drive their friends mad by their constant desire to take things apart to see how they work and then put them back again. On the plus side, the Monkey is not afraid to tackle the more adventurous home decorating jobs, his approach may not be strictly orthodox but the results normally look quite good all the same. Monkeys in Love need constant stimulation, they can't bear to be bored and expect their lovers to be able to keep up with them on every level. Monkeys can stray for the perfect lover is quite hard to find, when they do find a partner who stimulates them in every way, they can remain devoted lovers. Perfect Partners: Monkeys particularly enjoy the cut and thrust of life with lively and forceful Dragon and Rat types. Best Avoided: Monkeys rarely take to Snakes and Tigers and get impatient with Horse and Rabbit types. Famous people born in the year of the Monkey: French President: Jacques Chirac. German Chancellor: Gerhard Schroder. US Secretary: Donald H. Rumsfeld. Canadian Singer: Celine Dion. American Actor: Tom Hanks. English Actress: Elizabeth Taylor.

9. A Chinese Proverb

10. Language School

11. Information for Members by Email

12. Subscriptions