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As probably the one most involved with the teaching of Chinese in Ireland, Dr Liming Wang of the Confucian Institute in UCD visited Dalgan recently in search of news about a Chinese gentleman said to have taught Chinese to Irish China-bound missionaries back in the 1930s.

Was he the first Chinese teacher in Ireland and what happened to him?

Further research is necessary to get the answers but one result of his visit was an invitation to a group from Dalgan to visit the Confucian Institute.

It is an imposing building, more Chinese inside than outside. It cost nine million Euro, with a third each coming from the Chinese government, UCD and the Irish government.

The number of Chinese leaders who have visited it shows their keen interest in Ireland. It is said that Deng Xiaoping, who re-opened China to the world economy and culture by establishing duty-free economic zones in three ports in China, was inspired by the Shannon Duty Free Zone.   

Whether Ireland has fully availed of its opportunities to be actively involved in China’s growing economy is questioned in a book entitled ‘Doing Business with China: The Irish Advantage and Challenge’ co-authored by Dr Wang and his wife Dr Lan Li.

I look forward to reading it as it discusses cultural and historical similarities between China and Ireland.  Dr Lan Li is a cultural anthropologist and obviously contributed much of the culture-related material.

That book is now on my summer reading list and I hope to share her insights and reflections soon.

A book was launched last week at Dubray’s, Grafton Street. It was about two men I knew well and titled, Murder in the Missions.

Des Harford from Lusk, Co Dublin, reluctantly volunteered to work in the Muslim area of the southern Philippines. He was only too well aware of the danger but was convinced a missionary should be in conflict areas, helping to bring people together and encouraging mutual respect.  In 1997 he was kidnapped by extremists and held for 12 days.  

Rufus Halley from Waterford, also recognised those dangers but took them less seriously. During his 20 years in the Muslim area he once took a job with a Muslim stall holder in the market so he could interact with ordinary people.

When I saw him in the summer of 2000 he was on his way back to the Philippines. I told him, ‘Take care, Rufus. It’s still dangerous there’. He laughed in reply, ‘Who would be bothered with me? I’m not an important person.’ Almost exactly a year later he was shot by gunmen while visiting villagers.

Both were members of the Columban Missionary Society which was originally founded for another country caught up in upheaval, China. When there no longer were openings for Columbans there some were sent to the Philippines and took up the challenge of working with the economically and social deprived, including the Muslims.

Today Columbans are again involved with China, promoting social and educational links and supporting the local Church which is still recovering from years of persecution. Life is not as physically dangerous there as in the southern Philippines but it still calls for a dedication to be where one is most needed, challenges and all.

How will Beijing deal with the indignity of continuing weekly protests in Hong Kong?

So far the central government has taken a ‘wait and see’ stance, not wanting any bloodshed and taking time to gather information on the people and issues behind the unrest.

In the meantime they depend on the Hong Kong police to keep an acceptable level of order.  

However there will be repercussions when order is completely restored. 

Questions will be asked about the breakdown of information. The Beijing leadership was caught unprepared for the seriousness of the situation. Steps will be taken to better monitor and guide public opinion. People will be quickly reminded that Beijing is still very much in charge.

Ultimately the prosperity of Hong Kong depends on the goodwill of Beijing. Thanks to its support, Hong Kong remains a key gateway for business into and out of China. However Shanghai and Singapore are beginning to take over the shipping business and stock markets on the mainland are attracting the money that used to go to Hong Kong. Without Beijing support Hong Kong will wither until it becomes just another city in China.

Despite international coverage of the riots, on the Chinese mainland there is little information on what is happening in Hong Kong.

‘I’m an Overseas Brit and a Sichuan country girl,’ says Audrey Donnithorne, now 97, in her autobiography, ‘In Life’s Foreground’.

I got to know Audrey in Hong Kong but hundreds of other people have met her in England, Australia, China and other parts of the globe. The index of her book references 525 of them and I was not even mentioned!

Audrey was lecturing on Chinese economics in Hong Kong when China re-opened in the 1980s and, having been born there, she was immediately interested in availing of opportunities to reengage. Her parents had been Anglican missionaries in Sichuan province but when she was studying in Oxford Audrey became a Catholic and a proud one at that.

She developed her own contacts on the mainland but also encouraged a group in Hong Kong, including Columban Fr Ned Kelly, to unite in founding an organisation to send Catholic teachers and other experts to China. Thus AITECE, the Association for International Teaching and Educational Exchange, was born.

Audrey’s autobiography details her adventures in numerous countries over 93 years. They begin at the age of four when she and her family were kidnapped by Chinese bandits. The final chapter is a forthright reflection on the state of the modern world from the decline of the British Empire to Brexit, war, divorce, contraception and same-sex marriage.

She was expelled from China in 1997 but continues her efforts for China in Hong Kong.

She promises another volume of her memoirs. What a lady!

Last week south China had serious floods effecting 11 million people. The scenes in Wuhan reminded me of 1931 and 1938 when the Yangtze overflowed.  I wrote about those disasters recently in the China book —  how the Columbans played their part in relief efforts though their own compound was flooded.

When the giant Three Gorges Dam was completed on the Yangtze in 2012 it was expected to stop the annual floods but nature has proved stronger.

The continuing floods may or may not be related to climate change, no one is talking about that yet.

China uses half of the world’s coal supplies and produces a quarter of climate pollution.

The government takes the situation seriously and plans to phase out coal by 2040. China is already the largest solar technology manufacturer.

However, despite the wide ranging climate policy, emissions will increase till 2030 and by then the world will be in an even worse state, from which it will be harder to recover.

People joke about ’blue skies and cold homes’ but in Wuhan, despite the Three Gorges Dams, they  still worry more about the annual floods.  

Photo 1 is of the flooded Columban compound in 1931 and No 2 is the recent floods in the same city.

Yesterday the Dalgan chapel was full for the funeral of Fr John McGrath.

After 30 years of educational and administrative work within the Columban Society he was appointed, at the age of 59, to Hong Kong in 1989 and began his long wished-for ‘hands–on’  involvement in mission.

For nine years he was general manager of the then newly formed AITECE organisation which sent volunteer teachers and experts to Chinese universities. He saw this as a continuation of the Columban commitment to China.

Soon AITECE was sending English-speaking teacher from Ireland , the UK, Australia, the U.S., the Philippines and a number of other countries to China to develop person-to-person relationships and show that the West was supportive of China in its efforts to modernise. In return, those who went to China with AITECE learnt from bright and friendly university students that the West too had much to learn from a tradition which had kept respectful human relations at the heart of society.

In 1998, due to health concerns he moved from AITECE to pastoral work in Hong Kong and became the chaplain of the Catholic Center in Hong Kong Central, working with both locals and ex-patriates.  He finally had to return to Ireland in 2016.

News of his death will bring back happy memories for many AITECE teachers who passed through Hong Kong during his time there and the good relationships he build up with universities in China.

To celebrate 40 years of diplomatic relations with China, a new edition  of ‘The Irish and China’ has been published.

In his introduction, President Higgins points out the growing presence of Irish products in China: infant milk formula, Kerrygold, Dubliner cheese, Baileys and Jameson. 

Beyond that, a surprising number of people know about literary figures such as Joyce, performances like Riverdance and singers like Enya.

In return, how much do Irish people know about China?  

President Higgins hopes that the book will help us learn from each other about how to cope better with common problems we face.  The book is an effort in that direction.

I contributed the chapter on what Irish Missionaries did and learned. In the process I discovered more about the Irish Presbyterian, Methodist and Anglican missionaries whose efforts began earlier than those of the Maynooth Mission to China (Columban Fathers, one hundred years ago) to involve Irish Catholics in what was happening in China.    

Does anything happening in China have relevance for today’s Ireland?

A society likes Ireland’s that is getting narrower and more self-complacent needs to keep in touch with wider realities and China with its size, distance and differences can supply that.

We are used to look to China for worthwhile ideas from its long cultural experience but now we can turn to it for a glimpse of the future.

One impressive phenomena in China is the society-wide use of WeChat —  a form of Facebook Plus.

You can use it to phone or message, to pay bills, to get credit, to transfer money and to buy almost anything. It is fast leading to a world where credit cards and cash are outdated. Face recognition is beginning to replace pin numbers and passwords.

However all the information and images provided voluntary are available to the government and assist it in knowing where everyone is and what they are doing.

Of course, this has social benefits beyond convenience and seemingly low cost. It helps to prevent crime and trace criminals. 13,930 jay-walkers were identified in Fuzhou City within ten months by using the face-recognition system. Whether jay-walking is seriously criminal can be debated but the same method will be used to discover who are attending meetings not sanctioned by the government.  For example, any group of more than three people praying in a place not registered for that purpose is illegal.  The same applies to political gatherings.

In countries like Ireland, so far it is mainly big business who benefit from the voluntary offering of personal information and images but China provides an example of what the future has to offer.

Another reason for taking an interest in what is happening there!

Last weekend was my Korean weekend. On Saturday I attended the AGM of The Korean Society of Ireland and on Sunday the monthly liturgy of the Korean Catholic Community.

While the number of Chinese in Ireland is said to be anything from 50,000 to 150,000, the number of Koreans is relatively small. According to the Census, they number less than 600 and that includes North as well as South Koreans. 

The Korean Society has 129 members and the Catholic Community has about 60 so that would account for one third of the number. However, the real number is probably greater and hundreds of Korean students come here to study English in the summer.

The Korean Society organises festivals, like the Lunar New Year’s, and offer services to Korean residents in Ireland. They also invite the homeless in Dublin to their Christmas celebration.

The Catholic community has fewer activities because most of the members live outside Dublin city. A number are married to Irishmen and live as far away as Limerick.

In comparison to the Chinese, the Koreans are financially much better off. Many work for international firms.

There are now half-a-million non-Irish, from two hundred different countries, living in Ireland. Among them the Chinese are probably the largest group. Forget the number in the census, many of them are not registered and live ‘out of sight’. 

While it’s great to see the Koreans organising themselves in the open and getting involved in Irish society, spare a thought for the Chinese.  From their homeland they brought a culture of avoiding authorities and making a living with little thought of how hard they will have to work for it.  For most, their future is not in Ireland but maybe we could do more for them while they are here. 

Last Saturday was windy and cold but 120 members of the Southside Chinese Community,  young and old but mostly young, visited Dalgan.

Because of the large number they were supposed to be divided into two groups , with one going to Tara first and the other proceeding to Dalgan. However windy conditions on Tara meant both groups arrived in Dalgan at about the same time and had to be divided into four groups of 30 so they could, in turn, take the tour of the chapel, Chinese Room, Exhibition Hall and audio-visual room before going outside on a Nature Walk. Keeping the four groups moving, with time for lunch in between, kept everyone busy.

Most of the children, aged 4 to 15, were  born in Ireland and attend local schools. However their parents’ English was not quite as good and for most of them the visit to Dalgan was their introduction to a church and Irish involvement in China. Fortunately we had a few Chinese speakers available to expand the explanations.  

The parents and teachers were delighted to see the collection of Chinese artefacts and signs of effort to understand the Chinese culture and situation. The younger ones were impressed that some Irish people could speak Chinese and they liked the wide corridors and open spaces. Dalgan was built to send people to China, now it becoming a bridge for Chinese people to integrate into Ireland