The Irish Arts Center has honored three-time Academy Award winner and 21-time nominee Meryl Streep at its 25th Annual Spirit of Ireland Gala.
The Gala, held at Pier 60 in Manhattan, heard of Streep’s astonishing artistry and cultural influence.
The center, according to a release, "also celebrated longtime KPMG executive Shaun Kelly at the conclusion of his five-year tenure as IAC Board Chair, during which the organization completed and opened its $60 million landmark new facility amid a global pandemic."
Added the release: "Special Guest Senator George Mitchell - architect of the Good Friday Agreement and recently the subject of Lyric Theatre, Belfast’s acclaimed Agreement at IAC - gave a moving speech reinforcing the links between America’s immigrant traditions and its spirit of innovation and heralding IAC’s role as a bridge between Ireland and the United States.
"By the end of the night, the Gala had raised $3.25 million to support the organization’s annual programming and operations, and promoted its next phase of growth."
Hosted by IAC Executive Director Aidan Connolly and IAC Vice Chair Pauline Turley, the Gala celebrated three full years of programming in the new Irish Arts Center.
In that time, continued the release, "the institution has presented, as Turley noted, 'more than 600 artists to more than 50,000 audiences, including two Presidents and two Taoiseachs.'
"The event’s Honorary Chairs were Liam Neeson, Loretta Brennan Glucksman, and Gabriel Byrne, and its Lead Sponsors were Kea Capel and Bob McCann, Kate and Bob Devlin, and Kathleen and Michael Dowling.
"In keeping with IAC’s year-round celebration of superlative artistry, Streep, whose maternal great-great-grandmother Grace Strain left Horn Head, Co. Donegal for New York in 1864, was honored as an actress who, through her countless transformations, has consistently brought boundless humanity and complexity to her characters, earning her the frequent title of 'best actress of her generation.'
"Irish Film and Television (IFTA) Award winning actor Aidan Quinn - a longtime friend of both Streep and IAC - shared Streep’s monumental accomplishments before Academy Award-nominated actor Liam Neeson presented her with the Spirit of Ireland Award.
"After joking that her Irishness might explain why she loves 'sad songs and funny men,' Streep thanked the audience for coming to celebrate 'the great Irish Arts Center,' describing the institution as a 'miracle,' opening its new building during a pandemic.
"She inspired the room with the story of the first fundraiser she ever attended for an Irish arts organization, in 2007 in Belfast, at the invitation of her Ulster-born Mamma Mia! collaborator, the producer Mark Huffam. The dinner celebrating that new center’s opening brought together, face-to-face, members of Northern Ireland’s two political parties - including Sinn Féin statesman Martin McGuinness, who was seated next to Streep - in the aftermath of the signing of the St. Andrew’s Agreement months earlier. It was, for Streep, a heart-stoppingly powerful demonstration of the role a cultural center can play in reconciliation in a bitterly divided society. She concluded, 'Art helps. Thank god we’re raising money for art.'
"Senator George Mitchell, who appeared last Spring at the Center’s Opening Night presentation of Agreement, a play about the final negotiations of the Good Friday Agreement he brokered, spoke poignantly of his paternal great-grandparents’ emigration from Ireland to the United States 125 years ago. He described the tragedies that led his father to spend his first four years in a Boston orphanage, and the love and possibility that came when he was adopted by another working class immigrant family, from Lebanon.
"He pointed out that 'Apple, Amazon, and Google are among the most successful companies in the world,' and that, 'Apple was created by Steve Jobs, whose father was born in Syria. Amazon was created by Jeff Bezos, whose adoptive father was born in Cuba. Google was created in part by Sergei Brin, who was born in Russia.'
"Mitchell asked, 'What do you think the chances are that Steve Jobs would have created Apple if he had lived his life in Syria? Or Jeff Bezos in Cuba? Or Sergei Brin in Russia? Genius knows no race, no religion, no boundary. It can be found wherever there are human beings. But it tends to flourish where there is freedom, education, opportunity. In other words, a place like America. And now, we can proudly add, a place like Ireland. We are very fortunate to share both worlds.'”
IAC Executive Director Aidan Connolly saw the Gala evening as both the celebratory culmination of the past three years of programming, and the precipice of yet another era of momentous growth.
IAC is ramping up plans for the redevelopment of their original 51st Street home. This will be Phase Two of the organization’s bold transformation, next door to the new building opened in December 2021.
Connolly said: “Our work together as a community of transformative cultural entrepreneurs is not done. Having successfully endured the pandemic, and gotten up and running successfully, we must finish the job of Phase Two, and ensure that we fortify the new Irish Arts Center – building and institution, body and soul – for the future.”
Shaun Kelly, also a recipient of the 2024 Spirit of Ireland Award, and according to the release, "wrapped up remarks that were both hilarious and heartfelt by quoting the great Irish poet Seamus Heaney, a lifelong hero of Kelly."
Kelly recalled the line from Heaney’s poem “The Gravel Walks” that appears on the writer’s tombstone: “Walk on air against your better judgment.” He addressed the attendees: “For those of you who support us, who are supporting us tonight, or have supported us over the years: Thank you. And for those of you who haven’t supported us but are thinking about it—in fact, some of you haven’t supported us and aren’t thinking about it: Just do it. Walk on air against your better judgment. I promise you won’t regret it.”
Kelly will continue his IAC role as a member of the board.
Pauline Turley said of the Gala gathering: “For many years we've said that we will have a new home, and finally, thanks to so many friends in the room tonight, we do have a home that is worthy of the talent coming out of Ireland and Irish America today. Help us ensure that this new building will be full of programs that ignite the fire in your heart and soul, and continue to give us reasons to come together, to celebrate together, and remind us of our shared humanity.”
