The theme of the Douglas Hyde Conference 2004, The Artist and the State, is a most fitting tribute to Hyde because it explores two of his greatest passions. As a poet and a playwright whose source and inspiration was the folklore and vernacular of the people he grew up amongst, Hyde knew only too well the richness, vitality and nuance of Irish life at that time was best represented and sustained in literature.

Art and politics are similar pursuits, each attempts to communicate a vision of the future from an understanding of the past and the present. Both interpret events and opinions, and from this analysis puts forward views designed to provoke, persuade, reflect, understand and sometimes entertain. Both require an inquisitive mind, an empathy with the world and a desire to present opinions in new ways. Hyde, like many others in our history such as Yeats and Pearse, bridged these areas viewing them as valued vehicles of expression and change.