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Across the globe, solstices and equinoxes have a long history of ritual performance, marking these liminal times of the year. In the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice occurs in December. It is the “shortest” day of the year, receiving the least amount of daylight. It has been marked in Ireland for over 5000 years.

The solstice is a time of endings and beginnings. It is the end of the year; the end of the semester. It is the darkest day, but also the beginning of the return of the light. It is a time of hibernation, dormancy, and the gradual transformation of the world into a new cycle of rebirth.

To conclude our Irish World Academy 30th anniversary celebrations, we invite you to SOLSTICE, a new annual community gathering, celebrating all faiths and none in this “coffee morning” event of music, dance and hospitality, with all funds raised going to a designated charity. Echoing Heaney’s proposal that the “end of art is peace”, SOLSTICE is a timely reminder of the role of the arts in supporting community, goodwill, and peace on Earth.