The Government is considering setting up a multimillion dollar Irish cultural centre in New York, the Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, John O'Donoghue, has announced.
Actor Gabriel Byrne and philanthropist Loretta Brennan Glucksman have agreed to join a committee to assess if such a centre is viable.
The Minister said the committee would report back in about three or four months and that the project could take 10-15 years to complete.
He said he wanted to address a perception among non-Irish members of the American public that Irish culture was all about "tin whistles and bodhráns".
He made the announcement at the launch of a fellowship programme at Glucksman Ireland House between New York University and University College Cork in honour of Ms Glucksman's late husband, Lew Glucksman, who funded Irish arts projects in the US and Ireland.
The Minister said he envisioned a centre that could include Irish dancing, visual arts, theatre and many other outlets for Irish arts, but said the idea was still in the early stages and no venue had yet been chosen in New York.
The announcement was welcomed by Pauline Turley, the executive director of New York's Irish Arts Center, who has been campaigning for years for greater funding for New York's Irish arts scene.
The news came as the Irish Arts Center comes close to signing a deal with New York City government in which it will be given a new headquarters on the west side of the city for just $1 a year.
The location is close to the centre's current location in midManhattan.