This year, 2020, is the year of the rat in China. To celebrate Chinese New Year, a fair was held on January 25th-26th in Smithfield, a 400-year-old landmark in Dublin city centre. Thousands of people, including Dublin citizens and local and overseas Chinese participated in the two-day event.  Read more

On the evening of December 4th, 2019, the “Chinese as a Foreign Language in Post-Primary Schools in Ireland: Demand, Growth and Sustainability” report and the “Chinese for Junior Cycle Short Course” teaching resource pack were launched at the UCD Confucius Institute for Ireland. The conference was co-organized by the UCD Confucius Institute and the Irish Association of Chinese Teaching. Distinguished guests included Mr. Ruairí Quinn, Board Member of the Ireland China Institute and former Minister of Education and Skills in Ireland; Mr. Stephen Rhatigan, Chairman of the Irish Association of Chinese Teaching; Mr. Dawei Zheng, the Chief Secretary of the Chinese Embassy in Ireland and Mr. Wei Zhang, Chinese Dean of the UCD Confucius Institute. Representatives from the Department of Education and Skills, principals of secondary schools, Chinese teachers and students also attended the launch. Professor Liming Wang, Director of the UCD Confucius Institute and the Irish Institute for Chinese Studies, hosted the event. Read more

On November 24th, 2019, with support from the Education Team of the Chinese Embassy in Ireland, 17 volunteer teachers from the UCD Confucius Institute led by Mr. Wei Zhang , the Chinese Dean of UCD Confucius Institute, visited the UCC Confucius Institute. Volunteer teachers from the two institutes gathered to share their experiences on the topic of cultural exchanges between China and Ireland. Read more

    The award ceremony and exhibition of the China in My Eyes Art Competition was held at UCD Confucius Institute for Ireland (CII) on December 1st, 2019. Present at the event were more than 100 participating children and their parents, along with Chinese Ambassador to Ireland H.E. Dr. He Xiangdong and his diplomat team, including Dr. Shen Mingchun, Chief of Political and Press Section; Mr. Zheng Dawei, Head of the Education Section and Ms. Olga Wang, First Secretary for Cultural and Tourism issues. Also at the event were Principal of the UCD College of Engineering and Architecture, Professor Aoife Ahern; UCD CII Director, Professor Liming Wang; UCD CII Chinese Director Mr. Wei Zhang and other guests including Mr. Thomas Duffy, Ms. Fengli Yu, Ms. Anne Collins, Ms. Yi Jiang and Ms. Chunzhu Wang.   Read more

With the support of the Chinese Embassy in Ireland, a meeting for volunteer teachers of Confucius Institutes in Ireland was held in the UCD Confucius Institute for Ireland (CII) on 1st November. Around 40 volunteer teachers from both UCD CII and UCC Confucius Institute (CI) gathered for teaching discussions and networking events. First Secretary of the Education Section of the Chinese Embassy Mr Zheng Dawei, Director of UCC CI Ms Xiaohong Xu, Director of UCD CII Prof Liming Wang and Co-director Mr Wei Zhang attended the meeting.  Read more