Most Irish schoolchildren are taught that St. Patrick was a Welshman, despite the fact that many scholars believe that he was actually born in the north of England probably nearCumbria. Whatever the truth, it's undeniable that the majority of Irish people know very little about the links that exist between Ireland and Wales. The fact that we have a shared history in undeniable. It is known that a considerable Irish community existed in Wales and the south-east of England before the turn of the first millennium. This fact is attested to by many Ogham stones with Irish language inscriptions which still stand in these countries.
Modern connections continue to develop, most notably within the context of the constitutional settlement in Northern Ireland. The Good Friday Agreement signed by both the Irish and British governments and most political parties in Northern Ireland, allowed for the establishment of an East-West institution between Ireland and Britain called the Council of the Isles. This body is a consultative forum where representatives from Ireland and Britain can discuss issues of mutual concern or benefit. The members of the council are drawn from many bodies including Oireachtas Éireann [Irish Parliament], the Northern Ireland Assembly, the houses of the British Parliament, the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh and the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff.
Above all however, the fact that the Welsh are a Celtic people is the greatest shared link between our two countries. According to the United Kingdom census of 1991, almost 20percent of the population of Wales speaks Welsh. While the overall number is constant, a considerable increase has been recorded in the number of young people speaking the language between the ages of five and nine, and ten and fourteen. Of all the remaining Celtic languages Welsh is by far the strongest and the only one where the age distribution of native speakers matches that of the population in general. Language activists in Wales believe this is the most positive development for Welsh for some time. Indeed, unlike Irish in Ireland, Welsh can be heard in common use in Wales and enjoys a far greater level of acceptance and tolerance among the general population than has ever been the case in Ireland this century.
When it comes to the media, Wales is also well ahead of Ireland. The Welsh-language channel, S4C, has been broadcasting for many years having been established in 1982 when the renowned language activist, Gwynfor Evans, threatened to go on hunger strike. Sixteen years later, S4C's Welsh-language programmes have been multiple awards winners all over the world. It's of interest to Irish language speakers that S4C receives generous assistance from the British exchequer, to the tune of £64 million each year while the recently established Teilifís na Gaeilge [TnaG/TG4] which only began broadcasting in 1996 survives on the comparatively meagre State support of around £16 million annually. However, despite the disparity in funding, both stations have endeavoured to further the links between Ireland and Wales, by both showing the other's programmes and by commissioning joint productions.