With George Heslin as Executive Director, The NY Irish Center Celebrates 20 years as a Culture Hub for its Community

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Interviews

Published on Thursday, 19 September 2024 14:06

Written by Brad Balfour

George C. Heslin, photo by Brad Balfour.

Based in Long Island City, The NY Irish Center (NYIC) launches an ambitious season of new programming initiatives starting in September. Joining the Center for the first time will be Ireland’s national broadcaster TG4, introducing the first Irish language film festival in the U.S. May 2025 (exact dates to come). 

Also un-spooling at the Center will be a Saturday Series of international cartoons curated by Ireland’s celebrated animation studio Cartoon Saloon (starting Feb 2025). A season-long literary deep- dive, “The National Endowment for the Arts ‘Big Read,’” runs from Oct 1, 2024 to June 30, 2925, with 18 events in partnership with Flushing Town Hall, Hunters Point Library, India Home and Irish American Writers and Artists. 

Also among the highlights, NYIC premieres “Crossroads Concerts,” a new music series that blends and juxtaposes Irish folk traditions with music from many other cultures. It kicks off on Thursday, September 19th, at 7 pm. Curated by ethno-musicologist and educator Colin Harte, the eight-concert series runs monthly from September to June 2025 (skipping November and January). Harte brings together a stunning line-up of virtuoso folk musicians, many of whom are renowned in nearby Queens neighborhoods. 

NYIC executive director George C. Heslin explains, “In addition to the US and world premieres of plays and films we regularly present, we want the 20th season to be full of new discoveries. We are also happy to open our doors even wider than before to share Irish culture with more and more of our incredible neighbors. Headlining our resident trad music series on its first night of the season are the husband and wife duo of Siobhán and Willie Kelly (two stars of the Irish folk firmament in America).”

For two nights — September 25 and 26 — NYIC presents the NY premiere of Jay Sefton’s explosive new one-man play, “Unreconciled,” brought straight from Belfast by the director Geraldine Hughes. 

NYIC’S community-wide 20th Anniversary Celebration, on Saturday September 28 — from 2 pm to 5 pm — brings together all of NYIC’s constituent groups for a season sampler staged by Heslin, who has been the Center’s executive director since 2020. 

Added Heslin, a longtime veteran on the Irish American arts landscape, “Our 20th Anniversary Celebration is an open-house style party. It’s something we love to do at the Center… you can show up and when you do, you can be sure there will be something on stage, and merriment will prevail in all corners of the Center. ”

This is a free event with entertainment, but register in advance at: www.newyorkirishcenter.org 

The following Q&A was conducted online in advance of the above events.

Q: How long have you been into the arts, especially arts drawing on your Irish heritage?

George C. Heslin: I’ve been involved with the arts all my life. Since 2002 in NYC I have produced numerous events and productions both as a freelance artist and as Executive Director at New York Irish Center.

Q: What were the first arts experiences you had as a kid?

George C. Heslin: I had the honor of attending a Jesuit school in Limerick, Crescent College. The school had a marvelous arts program which afforded students the opportunity to act, produce and direct many plays.

Q: What are the biggest challenges in running an arts center in general and one focused on the Irish community in particular?

George C. Heslin: New York Irish Center, is a community enrichment center with numerous programs that serve the community from youth to seniors under the pillars of Community- Culture- Care. Our cultural programs focus on music, theater, movies and literary events.

Responding to the needs of a changing diaspora is another aspect of our work here at the center. Guiding and advising our new J1 arrivals is very important to us. While we offer them strategic support, it sometimes can be a challenge for new arrivals to secure employment and housing and we very much try to help with this.

Q: How do you decide what to book and how do you find the talent?

George C. Heslin: Each season we aim to present artists from a cross section of disciplines. We have a list of artists who we have worked with in the past but we also receive numerous enquiries from artists in Ireland looking to New York. We try to accommodate as many as possible

NY Irish Center’s Director of Arts & Culture Stephen Long has his finger on the pulse of what excites audiences.  NYIC is an incubator and gateway for emerging and prominent Irish talent. In planning programming Stephen works six months in advance in securing talent. 

Q: What about some of your most satisfying experiences in the arts and running a hub like this one?

George C. Heslin: The most satisfying aspect of running NYIC is saying yes to as many people as possible, offering people space to grow art, or offering networking opportunities to new arrivals, supporting our senior community with a daily welcome.

Q: The street you are on is like a little irish haven — how did that evolve?

George C. Heslin: LIC has deep historic ties to Ireland from local architecture built in the 18/19 century to our cultural footprint in Sunnyside, Woodside, Maspeth and beyond.

Q:  Talk a bit about the upcoming season — what should we look out for?

George C. Heslin: This year we have 100 cultural events to share with the community including our Annual Holiday Concert; New York Croons For Christmas with Colm Reilly & Friends, America’s first Irish Language Film Festival in association with Irish Broadcaster TG4, Queens Irish Heritage Festival and our new partnership with Oscar nominated Cartoon Saloon in Ireland.

Q: Ultimately, what do you hope people will take away from a visit to the Center?

George C. Heslin: My hope is that people have been enlightened by an aspect of Ireland from our renowned hospitality to our cultural offerings and our deep community support.

[The New York Irish Center is at 1040 Jackson Avenue in Long Island City, seven minutes, and one stop, on the 7 Train from Grand Central Station. For more info and queries call 718- 482-0909 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ]

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