Ireland's first consul general in Hong Kong hails historical ties to the Emerald Isle ... starting with street names
Envoy reflects on strong local ties to Ireland and says HK could 'teach Manhattan a thing or two'
Hong Kong definitely gives New York City a run for its money as a vibrant place, says Peter Ryan, Ireland's first consul general in Hong Kong and Macau.
And he should know, having finished a three-year stint as deputy consul general at the Irish consulate in New York.
"If Manhattan is the city that never sleeps, then this place could teach a thing or two to Manhattan," Ryan, 49, said this week, ahead of today's official opening of Ireland's first consulate in Hong Kong, which is seen by many as a strategic move as Ireland's economy picks up after the global financial crisis.
"You're able to hit the ground running here in a way that's unique," he said, having lived in Singapore, Japan and Korea. "And Hong Kong's the only place in the world I would have left New York for - apart from Dublin."
A career diplomat, Ryan joined the foreign service more than 20 years ago and moved to Hong Kong last August to take up his first post as a consul general.
With his wife and three daughters, the Dublin native has already tapped into the tight-knit Irish community in Hong Kong, made up of expatriates from his homeland as well as locals who have a link to Ireland either through education, business links or simply an affinity with the country's rich cultural history.
Earlier this year, he organised the city's first St Patrick's Day parade and he's continuing on his goal of a number of other "firsts".
Next March, the consulate will host its first month-long series of events to be called the "March of the Irish".
The programme will include a film festival, a food and drinks showcase, an event to mark the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising that led to Ireland becoming independent from Britain, an expanded St Patrick's Day parade and an art competition for schools. All the events will also happen in Macau, he said.
Ryan said the events would all feature local partnerships with schools, businesses and community groups.
"We don't want to do anything unless there is a strong local link," he said. "There are a lot of things in Hong Kong that people may not necessarily make the direct association with Ireland.
"You can walk around Hong Kong Island and never leave a street that isn't named after an Irish person," Ryan said, listing Hennessy, O'Brien, Pottinger and Kennedy. Even the Peak tram was built during the time of Des Voeux, another governor with Irish roots, he added.
"Not only did Hennessy appoint the first Chinese member of the [Legislative Council], he was also the man who granted permission for the Chinese to live on Hong Kong Island," Ryan said.
Ryan also praised the resilience of the city and its transformation in recent history.
“I’m very aware that you’re only a couple of generations away from when people worked 24 hours to put food on the table. In a similar way, we’ve been through that in Ireland. We were a very poor country until the 1960s. We’re only three generations away from famine, one generation away from a really difficult upbringing for people.
“Everything in Ireland would have been considered a luxury except for education, that was considered essential so parents in Ireland, particularly mothers, are obsessed with education, very similar to Chinese mothers.”
This May, Hong Kong signed a cultural cooperation agreement with Ireland when Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor visited Dublin, which Ryan said would bring the two places closer than ever before.
"If you're going to understand Asia, the best landing spot for you is Hong Kong and that's not lip service, that's real," he said.
Hong Kong-Ireland ties
- Exports between the two grew 32 per cent last year
- 50 Irish-owned companies in city, and 12 to 15 Irish-based companies have branches here
- Biggest HK employer in Ireland is Hutchison's Three
- Population of Irish in Hong Kong: about 3,000 officially
