THE IRISH TIMES
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Saturday 3rd January 2009

MY DREAM HOLIDAY

Finbar Wright, of The Irish Tenors
One of the primary-school poems that has lodged itself permanently in my brain is:

"Tháinig long ó Valparaiso,
Scaoileadh téad a seol sa chuan,
Chuir a hainm dom i gcuimhne Ríocht na Gréine,
Tír na mBua."

This poem by Pádraig de Brún initiated an abiding fascination with the renowned Chilean city of Valparaíso which remains unsatisfied and unfulfilled to this day.

The original romance was further fuelled in my teenage years when my brother Robert, who worked at that time with the Merchant Navy, sent me a postcard from the port city of Valparaíso, which he was visiting at that time. I promised myself then that I also, one day, would visit this exotic faraway place, and although my musical career has taken me to most regions of the world, I have never been to Chile, or that part of the world.

My other interest in Chile is that one of its most revered historical figures is a man of Irish descent, Bernardo O'Higgins, whose father was born in Sligo. O'Higgins was a leader in the Chilean war of independence which freed the country from Spanish rule; he then ruled as the new state's first premier. Hopefully, his memory means that Irish people are particularly welcome in Chile.

The old quarter of Valparaíso was recently named a Unesco World Heritage site and the city was chosen as Chile's Cultural Capital in 2003, which should indicate that it is a colourful and artistically rich destination. Besides Valparaíso, I imagine the greater Chile itself to be a wondrous country to visit, having such natural jewels as the snow-capped Andes, as well as active volcanoes, the unforgivingly hot Atacama desert, beautiful Pacific beaches, stunning coastal fjords, lush valleys and fertile vineyards. It's a magical sliver of a country which runs right down to Cape Horn and the Straits of Magellan.

It would, undoubtedly, prove a sparkling adventure for my family, a chance to polish up my Spanish, and a fulfilment of a childhood dream - Valparaíso and Chile in 2009, here we come. •

In conversation with Catherine Foley