“I just want to say a special word to the artists both here and at home in Ireland. I know that your work will animate the halls and stages of this new center, and will echo and resonate far and wide across this great country. This is your arts center. It will be a space for you to innovate, to grow, to collaborate, to refine your craft, to build your careers, to tell our story, to tell YOUR story, and to bring us together. Today is an important milestone in the development of the new Irish Arts Center, and I hope it is an important milestone in the contribution and continuing close relationship between Ireland and the great city of New York.”—Taoiseach Leo Varadkar