The University’s Center for Politics hosted Irish Ambassador to the United States Anne Anderson on Tuesday. The event was coordinated by the Center’s Global Perspectives on Democracy program, which fosters dialogue between the U.S. and other countries through public events and international exchanges.
Anderson’s talk, held in Jefferson Hall, was free and open to the public with advanced registration. Approximately 65 people attended the event, with every seat in the venue filled and additional attendees standing in the back of the room.
Anderson is the latest ambassador to speak in Charlottesville as part of the Center for Politics’ Ambassador Series, which has also featured the ambassadors from Argentina, Austria, Germany, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Vietnam.
Daman Irby, the director of Global Initiatives at the Center for Politics, said the Center’s goal was to provide opportunities to engage powerful people hailing from a variety of nations. He said Anderson had been invited in connection with the Center for Politics’ JFK100 series, a yearlong series of programs, exhibitions and speakers exploring the life and legacy of the 35th U.S. President.
“The purpose of the Center for Politics is to increase civic engagement not only in our community and at the University but also around the world,” Irby said. “We also attempt to make politics engaging for people; we host activities to bring politics a little closer to home, to make people feel that they have potentially a voice in politics, and we just generally try to get people to become engaged, to consider other perspectives.”
Kyle Kondik, the managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball and director of communications for the Center for Politics, said Kennedy’s Irish Catholic heritage linked the JFK100 series and Anderson’s visit.
“Ambassador Anderson’s visit is part of two larger projects that the U.Va. Center for Politics is hosting, the Ambassador Series and the series of activities we have related to what would have been the 100th birthday of President John F. Kennedy,” Kondik said. “Kennedy was the first Irish Catholic President, obviously very important in America, and to Ireland as well.”
Politics Prof. Larry Sabato, who founded the Center for Politics, briefly introduced Anderson. Anderson has served 45 years with the Irish foreign service, including stints as Ireland's ambassador to the United Nations, France and the European Union in Brussels.
“While the close relationship between Ireland and the U.S. has existed for centuries, the presidency of John F. Kennedy created an even stronger connection between our people that continues to this day,” Sabato said. “In commemoration of what would have been the 100th birthday of President Kennedy, Ambassador Anderson has entitled her address ‘Issues in Irish-U.S. Relations Viewed Through a JFK Prism.’”
The ambassador’s talk covered topics including Irish-U.S. relations, John F. Kennedy’s legacy, Irish immigration and the U.N. She addressed the changing political climate in America, as well as the changing nature of Irish-U.S. relations.
“Now more than ever we need President Kennedy’s vision for the world and for America,” Anderson said. “A world that values multilateralism and believes in the strength of soft power, an America of ambition and confidence, its windows wide open to the world, continually renewed and refreshed by the exchange of ideas and interplay of countries.”
The ambassador also spoke about the changing nature of Irish immigration to America, citing the fact that as few as one-fifth of one percent of American visas go to Irish citizens.
“Few countries can speak with more experience about the immigrant story than we can,” Anderson said. “We know what a lifeline immigration can offer, and how much immigrants can contribute.”
Anderson said she believes in the mature, two-way, mutually beneficial relationship shared by Ireland and the United States.
“More than 50 years have passed, and time has eroded some of the innocence of our days. We have become in some ways a different country, but the deep and true notes from all those years ago vibrate through to this day,” Anderson said.
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