What sense of Ireland do artists have now, in a country where the old cliches of poverty, isolation and distinctiveness no longer hold? They have always been among the most important "makers of Irishness", but a true artistic response to the new Ireland means departing completely from the traditional image.
In a three-part series starting in the main section of today's Irish Times, leading Irish artists in different disciplines, including Pat McCabe, Conor McPherson, Alice Maher, Gerry Stembridge and Raymond Deane discuss the place of Ireland in their work.