The Irish Presidency of the European Union has been formally launched in Brussels this evening by the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O'Donoghue.
He marked the start of the Presidency by opening two specially commissioned exhibitions in the Justus Lipsius Building, which house the European Council. One exhibition, curated by the Gallery of Photography in Dublin, features over 150 works by 11 of Ireland's leading photographic artists.
The other is a literary exhibition entitled In Other Words, which has been curated by writer and poet, Peter Sirr. It features Irish texts from seventh to the twentieth centuries in Irish, Latin, French, various varieties of English and Ulster Scots.
Speaking tonight at a concert featuring traditional music band Danú and sean nós dancer from Connemara, Seosamh Ó Neachtain, Mr O'Donoghue said Ireland was "a modern, progressive, open-minded place that has reaped the benefits of over 30 years of membership" of the EU.
"Over this period our people have enthusiastically embraced progress and change and the 'European project', and our contemporary cultural life reflects that," he added.
Last week, the minister announced the details of an extensive cultural programme, which sees over 250 Irish artists and hundreds of European artists presenting work across the expanded EU, to take place over the course of Ireland's six-month tenure as EU President.