Opening remarks by DSMC Principal Evan Furlong
Remarks by former Senator Gerry Horkan
On May 22, 2026, the Dublin School of Mandarin Chinese (DSMC) held its end-of-term ceremony in Dublin, continuing its long-standing tradition of celebrating students’ achievements and promoting Taiwanese culture and Mandarin education in Ireland.
The school was honored to welcome distinguished guests, including Gerry Horkan, former Senator of Ireland, and Eric Chang, Deputy Director of the Taipei Representative Office in Ireland, who attended the event and expressed their support for Mandarin education and cultural exchange within the Irish community.
The principal of the Dublin School of Mandarin Chinese wishes to express her heartfelt gratitude to the board members and teachers for their unwavering support over the years.
“It has been an incredibly busy and rewarding term! Together, we hosted two Film + Meetup events and ran three fantastic in-person cultural workshops: Mahjong, Ancient Bamboo Scrolls, and Dumplings. We also shared plenty of laughs during our Mandarin Corner sessions with Balderdash, some lighthearted TOCFL prep, and our book club. To our students: your dedication is the backbone of our teaching team. Best of luck to everyone sitting the annual TOCFL exam!”
In his remarks, former Senator Gerry Horkan praised DSMC’s continued efforts in promoting Taiwanese culture and Mandarin education in Ireland, “it's good to be here, nice to see Anna and Vihren again. Evan and her team are working tirelessly to promote Taiwan in Ireland, whether it is through the Mandarin Chinese language teaching and learning, culture workshop, film, or community work. Similar to the Irish abroad, who bring GAA, Guinness, trad music, and Irish dancing wherever they go, they are sharing the very best of their heritages. Taiwan is a country that I admire and have visited many times. It has been in the spotlight a lot lately—no thanks to the two mega-administrations. I think it is vitally important that we continue to support Taiwan, as the world certainly doesn't need another conflict.”
Gerry also congratulated the author of Taiwan Travelogue on winning the 2026 Booker Prize, as it’s an amazing achievement, which meant a lot to the Taiwanese community all over the world. He added “Evan mentioned you have a book club, who knows, that might just be your next book title!”
The highlight of the evening was the students’ presentations delivered in Mandarin Chinese. Their presentations received enthusiastic applause from the audience, with topics including Great Wall of China, Hobbies, Lunar New Year in Malaysia, Food, Travel in Taiwan, Jobs, Music, and even Easter Island!
The ceremony concluded in a joyful and warm atmosphere, marking another successful semester for DSMC and reflecting the school’s ongoing commitment to promoting Mandarin education and Taiwanese cultural exchange in Ireland.
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