Emerald Ball 2005 Tokyo : 19 March 2005

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The 2005 Emerald Ball in Tokyo was held at the Palace Hotel in the presence of President and Dr McAleese and Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado. The event was the major fundraiser for the Ireland Fund Japan and was generously sponsored by Irish firms with business in Japan as well as Japanese firms.

In the past year, The Fund supported the Irish Special Olympics Team 2005 in Nagano and also recognised the host town, Mure Village, as well as the Irish Volunteers for the Games. The Fund also supported the Irish Network Japan which runs the St. Patrick’s Day parades in five cities in Japan as well as local charities in Japan.

At the Ball, the President of the Fund, Gerry Lanigan launched The Ireland Fund Schools Twinning Program. The schools involved are Ballyduff National School, Kilmeaden, Co. Waterford and Shiogama Daini Elementary School, Shiogama City, Miyagi Prefecture.

In her speech, the President noted the growing links between the two countries and expressed support for the Twinning Program as an important expansion in this area.

The program will facilitate informed cultural awareness between two communities made up of teachers, pupils and parents. The schools will conduct an art competition. The pictures will illustrate an image of how a child views the other country. The Japanese teacher will judge the Irish submissions and the Irish teacher will judge the Japanese submissions. The adjudicating teacher and two students will visit the counterpart schools.

Host communities will aim to ensure that the visitors return home with an understanding of the environment and culture they have been exposed to. This experience will be shared by the visitors on their return home with all the students who participate in the competition providing further enrichment of the experience for all participants.

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