A new international network of academic contacts has been established for the promotion of the Ulster-Scots language and heritage by the Institute of Ulster-Scots Studies based at Magee College in Derry.
The network, which includes six US colleges, two in Canada, one in Australia, and two in Scotland, was launched this week at a large reception on Capitol Hill hosted by Appalachian Congressman Rick Boucher, an occasion that demonstrated that the nationalist tradition is not alone in having friends here.
The North's Minister of Culture, Mr Michael McGimpsey, said the preservation of the language was "very important to the self-image of our people" and that the launch in the US was particularly appropriate given the important role of the Ulster-Scots in the foundation of the American state.
The Irish Ambassador, Mr Sean O hUiginn, said Ireland's two great waves of immigration to the US, the early Presbyterian one of the 18th century and the post-Famine migration of the 19th, had each contributed importantly and distinctively to the shaping of the US and should both be honoured. Celebration of both traditions represented "an enrichment of both with no downside", he said.
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