President and Sabina Higgins to host Garden Party celebrating 100th anniversary of the publication of Ulysses

·       Event is 60^th Garden Party held since President Higgins took office and the first Garden Party to take place since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic

·       Five Garden Parties and two Presidential Concerts to be held over the next month

President Michael D. Higgins and his wife Sabina will today host a special Garden Party at Áras an Uachtaráin to mark the 100^th anniversary of the publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses in 1922.

The event, taking place in the week of Bloomsday, will be MC’d by Tommy Tiernan and will include addresses by President Higgins and Professor Declan Kiberd, author of Ulysses and Us, as well as musical performances from artists including Camille O’Sullivan, Simon Morgan, Noel O’Grady and The Stunning.

Approximately 350-400 guests are expected to attend, under the theme of the making and selling of books, with the majority of those attending representing independent Irish publishers and bookshops. Some of those attending have indicated that they will be wearing Bloomsday dress.

The event is the 60^th themed Garden Party to be hosted by President Higgins at Áras an Uachataráin since his election to the office of President, with over 20,000 people having attended over the course of the events since 2011.

Today’s event is the first Garden Party to be held since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and is the first of a series of five Garden Parties and two Presidential Concerts to take place over the coming month.

A 1916 Relatives community event will take place on Wednesday 15^th June, with a Family Day to take place on Saturday 18^th June, a HeForShe event on Thursday 23^rd June and a Community Day on Sunday 26^th June. The two Presidential Concerts will take place on Wednesday 29^th June and Friday 1^st July.

In a statement, President Higgins said:

“While the first Garden Party of the summer is always a special occasion, this year’s one is a particular pleasure. The Áras Garden Parties, like so many other events across the country, and indeed the world, had to be cancelled in 2020 and 2021 as we came together as a global community to meet the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sabina and myself are delighted to be able to resume these gatherings this summer and, following in the tradition started by our first President Douglas Hyde, to once again welcome so many of our fellow citizens to come to the Áras and spend an afternoon enjoying its beautiful house and gardens.

This year of course marks the centenary of the publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses, bringing a special significance to this year’s Bloomsday celebrations. Celebrating Ulysses reminds us of why we must be so grateful to the independent publishers who, like the inspired, committed and innovative Sylvia Beach with James Joyce, provide such a vital service to our society by publishing the good, original, ground breaking, thought provoking, mould shattering and, indeed, often eccentric or idiosyncratic work that moves the world of literature in its diversity and enables the discovery and emergence of new and exciting literary forms and voices.

I look forward to joining with our guests today, and indeed all our guests over the coming weeks, in marking the contribution of so many important public initiatives and contributions over the last two years and to have the opportunity of thanking all of them for their continuing work for the benefit of all the citizens in our society.”