Ireland has a patchy record of participation in World Expos. After taking part in the Seville Expo in 1992, we missed out on Lisbon two years ago - shamefully, the only EU member state to do so - but the Government has made up for that lapse by flying the flag in Hanover.
The Irish Pavilion, designed by the Dul consortium led by architects Murray O'Laoire - is a credit to us. Though sandwiched between a gimmicky Italian entry and a "nonentity" from Greece, with the vulgar Monaco pavilion rising up to the rear, it strikes just the right note.
Flanked by a double wall of polished black Kilkenny limestone on one side and a wall of gabions - loose stones held in wire cages - on the other, it projects a modern image of Ireland without undermining misty German perceptions moulded by years of Bord Failte advertisements.
An Office of Public Works team headed by assistant principal architect Liam Egan deserves a great deal of credit for the careful research that went into the brief for a 1998 architectural competition; this helped to ensure that the resulting pavilion would hit the target in every sense.
The pool of water in front (and underneath) symbolises our status as an island nation. This is reinforced by the presentation, most dramatically by a digitised projection of a year's weather rolling in from the Atlantic and from the feel of Irish rain in the pavilion's "Sensory Wall".
The project successfully negotiates "the thin line between architecture and set design, without going into the outer shores of kitsch or nationalism", as Sean O Laoire put it. That's only to be expected from the involvement of Luke Dodd and Orna Hanly in its design.
Art in the pavilion includes a mesmeric piece by Maud Cotter, in which an endless digital spiral is projected on to a weathered stone. The VIP suite, known as the Connaught Room, has new furniture by Shane Holland. And FAS is there, too, with a web site (www.jobs-ireland.com).
Architecturally, the building takes some of its inspiration from the clean lines of Mies van der Rohe's German Pavilion for the Barcelona Expo in 1929. That pavilion, not to mention its Barcelona Chair, became such an icon of modern architecture that it was rebuilt in facsimile in 1992.
The use of inexpensive concrete-tiled flooring is the only disappointing feature of an otherwise excellent effort. Perhaps this could be replaced by granite when the pavilion comes to be rebuilt, as it is designed to be dismantled and re-erected on an as yet unidentified site in Ireland.
"We took very seriously the idea that it would be have to stand somewhere else for a long time," according to Sean O Laoire. The lower end of Smithfield might be one possible site.
The fact that it is located near Expo 2000's ferris wheel at one of the main entrances should help to bring in visitors. But it is intriguing enough in itself and will be the centrepiece of Ireland's national day in Hanover on June 25th, when President McAleese will be there.
