Background

Pictured at the inaugural meeting of the Board of ICUF, Beachy Cove, Newfoundland 1993, from left to right:
Professor Noel Walsh (Psychiatry UCD), Dr Patrick Hillery (former President of Ireland), Dr Craig Dobbin O.C. (Chairman and CEO CHC – Canadian Helicopter Corporation), Inset: Mrs Elaine Dobbin, Professor Ken Ozmon ( President of St Marys University Halifax Nova Scotia), Antoin Mac Unfraidh (Irish Ambassador to Canada), Michael Wadsworth (Canadian Ambassador to Ireland), Professor John Kelly (Registrar University College Dublin)

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The Ireland Canada University Foundation (ICUF) was established in 1993 by the late Dr. Craig Dobbin O.C., and former President of Ireland, the late Dr. Patrick Hillery, to encourage and facilitate scholarship links between Ireland and Canada.

The scholarly exchanges between Ireland and Canada are rooted in a long tradition of inter linkage between the two countries, and ongoing experiences of both a shared and comparable nature. At the time of Canadian Confederation in 1867, the Irish ethnic group was second only to the French Canadians in terms of numerical strength, and close and enduring links have been founded upon that basis. Historically, many political and social events and personalities have contributed to the trans- Atlantic bonds. The Ontario school system, for example, was developed upon the model of the Irish National School system, and it is, of course, well remembered that it was in Ottawa in 1948 that the then Taoiseach (Prime Minsister) John A. Costello, announced the intention to declare the Irish State a republic. Later that same year the Republic of Ireland Act was passed by the Oireachtas (Legislature).

Relations between Ireland and Canada are underpinned by substantial trade and investment flows, and by a shared commitment to democracy and human rights. The question of language rights, the acknowledgment of respective identities and the requirements of differing traditions are common to both our countries. Such issues – and possible responses to them – can be elucidated, explored and enhanced by comparative studies.