Two new organisations have been set up in Galway and they aim to get the city’s Chinese community to both embrace their heritage and integrate into Irish society, while also providing advice to Galwegians who wish to do business in China.
The Irish Chinese Society Galway and the Galway Chinese School were officially launched last week at a meeting attended by Li Chengyuan, the First Secretary of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Ireland.
The society aims to protect the rights of Chinese people in Galway; preserve Chinese culture and traditions among the local Chinese community; and help them to integrate into Irish society. The school will be open to anyone with an interest in the Chinese language and culture, and offers language, art, and cultural classes.
The chair of both the society and school is Kam Chin, who is originally from Hong Kong; and vice chair Dongxia Zhang, who comes from Beijing.
Galway’s Chinese community numbers around 1,000 and encompasses those who first arrived from China since the 1950s and who set up restaurants and takeaways; those who settled here in the 1970s and become involved in business and medicine; and students and academics who have been coming since the 1990s.
“We wanted to form a organisation where we can bring these groups together to mix with each other, and with the Irish community, and to help them integrate into Irish society, and contribute to Galway and Ireland,” says Ms Zhang.
“Many don’t understand the visa system,” says Mr Chin. “If they want to work in Ireland they need to get a work permit while students need a student visa. People need to know what the laws of the country are and we will help them with that.”
As well as integrating Chinese people into Irish life, the Irish Chinese Society Galway is also concerned to make Galway-Chinese people, particularly the second-generation children who were born here, aware of and proud of their heritage and culture.
“My children speak English among themselves but it’s very important that they learn their mother tongue,” says Ms Zhang. “It will be important to them if they go to China to work or study and it’s important they know their culture as well.”
The school will provide classes for such people to improve or learn the Chinese language of Mandarin. However the school, like the society itself, is also open to Irish people interested in anything to do with China, who also wish to learn the language, or who want to do business.
“Chinese business culture is quite different from Ireland and people who wish to do business in China need to know that culture,” says Mr Chin. “The school can provide assistance and advice on all these aspects as well as classes in Mandarin for those who want to trade with China. We can also put people in touch with the Chinese embassy as well.”
Those interested in getting in touch with the Irish Chinese Society Galway and the Galway Chinese School can contact Mr Chin at the Irish International Hotel & Catering School, 16 Eyre Square, on 091 - 895674, 087 - 2272983, or through [email protected]
