Identity is never static and Ireland now faces the challenge of crafting the criteria by which we will be defined in the future, the Minister for the Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands told a conference in the US on Saturday.
Ms de Valera, who was speaking at the Irish Nations Conference in the University of Tulane, New Orleans, said it was within our power to define the differences by which we want to distinguish ourselves.
Earlier in her address, she said there was a new kind of visitor coming to Ireland. They don't want any general introduction. Instead, they go directly to what interests them - and they know where to find it.