On the afternoon of May 14th,Zhejiang Gongshang University and Education Department of EnterpriseIrelandjointly held “Irelandday”.Eoghan Duffy,Deputy Consul General of Ireland in Shanghai,Isobel Walton and John Hamill, Education Consultants from Embassyof Ireland in Shanghai,Lynn Wang,the representative of National University of Ireland Maynooth in China,Tracy Ye, the representative of Waterford Institute of Technology in China, and John Carroll, Irish musical performance artist visited ZJSU and attended Ireland Day.Vice President Dai Wenzhan, Director of International Office and Foreign Language College and a hundred students attended the activity.

Firstly,Vice President Dai Wenzhan delivered the opening speech. He expressed warm welcome to the delegation headed by Deputy Consul General ofIrelandinShanghaiand briefly introduced the general situation and education internationalization of ZJSU. He pointed out that “Ireland Day” will be a nice beginning of friendly relationship between ZJSU andIrishUniversities. He hoped under the support of Consulate General of Ireland inShanghaiand Education Department of EnterpriseIreland, ZJSU can successfully launch mutual-benefiting exchange and cooperation programs to further promote the internationalization level of ZJSU. Then,Eoghan Duffy,Deputy Consul General ofIrelandinShanghai, expressed his appreciation to ZJSU for the strong support. He also hope both parties can establish profound fraternity by holding Ireland Day. Then, consultants from Education Department of EnterpriseIrelandgave a brief introduction of study inIreland. Representatives ofIreland’s Universities inChinaexpounded the location, course settings, study advantages and other information respectively. Students attended listened carefully and actively participated in award quiz. John Carroll, foreign teacher from ZJSU, also an Irishmusical performance artist, presented Irish traditional Irish music. In the end, Ireland Day bring to a successful close.

Irelandis a picturesque country, widely known as “EmeraldIsland”. The wonderful natural scenery, stretched coastline, soft beach and hospitable people are appealing to us. The long history and excellent education ofIrelandare recognized globally. As early as the Middle Ages,Irelandwas leading the western education. Music has a high status in Irish culture. Harp is a traditional Irish instrument, and it can be seen in Irish national emblem, which reflects the important role of music inIreland. In the recent years, the bilateral relations betweenChinaandIrelandprogress by leaps and bounds. High- level reciprocal visits become frequent, exchange and cooperation in economy and trade, education, science and technology, culture and agriculture increase. All of these activities yield fruitful results. Currently,Chinahas built two Confucius Institutes in Ireland, and over ten thousand Chinese students study inIreland.