President Higgins praises work of Dylan Thomas

President Michael D Higgins, on his first official visit to Wales, last night opened a new exhibition at Swansea’s Dylan Thomas Centre which will go on permanent display.

Mr Higgins’s visit is timed to coincide with the centenary of the birth of Wales’s most famous literary son, Dylan Thomas.

Thomas’s granddaughter Hannah Ellis said she was pleased that President Higgins was present, both as a president and a poet. The President helped to conclude the “Dylaton”, a 36-hour marathon reading of Thomas’s works.

Events surrounding the centenary commemorations have sought to reclaim Thomas’s poetic reputation from the damage caused by a self-destructive streak which saw him drink himself to death in a bar in New York.

Legend

Mr Higgins alluded to it when he said the “legend of (Thomas’s) life has something substituted for an appropriate appreciation of the immense poetic and literary achievement of too short a life”.

Earlier yesterday, Mr Higgins met the first minister of Wales, Carmyn Jones, whose cabinet room has the best view in Cardiff, overlooking Cardiff Bay.

Afterwards, Mr Higgins spoke of the growing bonds between two close neighbours who have close cultural and economic interests. “We share a Celtic imagination,” the President said, “we’re not confined to rational categories always.”

He spoke to Mr Jones about the shared maritime space between Ireland and Wales and how to develop it better. They also discussed youth unemployment.

He referenced the Ireland- Wales Research Network, a collaborative project that promotes interdisciplinary research and brings together some of the best minds who are involved in cultural projects in both countries.

Mr Higgins singled out the common linguistic heritage of both countries and he said more should be done to promote the intersection between the English, Irish and Welsh languages.

This morning the President will visit the Ireland- Wales programme hosted by Swansea University.