Ship of Dreams is a special book for me because of the family connection so I decided to have a launch for it. Port of origin was the Dubray Bookshop in Grafton Street, and the event was captained by Seamus Brennan, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism. Or Minister for Life, the Universe and Everything as I cheekily called him during my speech. He made a wonderful speech - see below - and was so humorous, unassuming and accessible, staying around for an hour and a half chatting to people - that everyone was singing his praises afterwards.

Lynn, the manager of Dubray Grafton Street, also made a speech in which she quoted from George Orwell's essays, which impressed those of us who would have trouble quoting from his novels never mind his essays. Go, girl!

Who was there? The writer Patrick McCabe and his artist wife Margot Quinn, the debonair Tim O'Connor, Secretary-General to the President, and lots of my friends and colleagues (past and present) from the Irish Independent and the Sunday World. My sister Tonia and her husband Tom and their children Aoife and Justin came from West Kirby in England just for the day, while my brother Niall arrived from Omagh to represent that branch of the family. And then there were many of my Dublin writer pals.

My boyfriend David Murphy rounded up some of his RTE chums too, so it was quite a media gathering. And his family came too, which was lovely.I saw friends from Cork, Donegal, Fermanagh in the crowd and it was an amazing feeling to stand on the podium looking out into that sea of faces and feel their good wishes swimming towards me.

This was my Oscar moment. Without Billy Crystal. Or borrowed jewellery. Or goodie bags. But you can't have everything.

Some Pictures from the Event

Martina Devlin outside Dubray Bookshop

Justin Blanchard, Tonia Blanchard, Martina Devlin and Aoife Blanchard

Martina and niece Aoife Blanchard

Leah Baker & Senan Molony

Kathleen O'Callaghan, Medb Ruane, Sarah Webb & Justine McCarthy

Arts Minister Seamus Brennan & press officer Tom Rowley

Laura Fletcher, Eithne Robinson, Audrey McGillycuddy, Vicky McGrath, David Hogan & Kelly Janssens

Comments by Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Seamus Brennan T.D. when launching "Ship of Dreams" by Martina Devlin in Dublin on Tuesday, 11th September 2007

I am delighted to have been invited to launch this gripping and very moving new book by Martina Devlin, "Ship of Dreams". We are now enjoying a really exciting time in writing and publishing in Ireland. There is right now a growing band of sisters, including Martina, who are proving that when it comes to good storytelling the Irish do it best. I look forward during my time as Minister for the Arts to working to encourage and support artists and writers from all walks of life and backgrounds.

I see that the invitation to the launch invited you all to board the "Ship of Dreams" Captained by the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism. Now, the truth is that us politicians can be a superstitious lot at times, so I'm assuming that making a Minister the Captain of the launch of a book based around the sinking of the Titanic does not have any political undercurrents that I'm unaware of. As most of you know I have been navigating the choppy, sometimes stormy, political waters for a good many years and so far I have managed to steer clear of the icebergs.

But that's more than enough about my voyage. This evening we are here to talk about Martina and her voyage of discovery. "Ship of Dreams" is perhaps Martina's most unusual book in that it was inspired by, and draws its inspiration from, her family history. She discovered by chance that her great grand uncle, Tom O'Brien from Co. Limerick, was a passenger on the Titanic, eloping with a young woman, Hannah, who was pregnant, although his family appear to be unaware of this. Tom drowned on that fateful night when the great ship hit an iceberg but Hannah survived in a lifeboat and safely reached New York. For that factual part of her story I know Martina is grateful to fellow Independent journalist, Senan Molony. Senan's earlier book on the Irish people on the Titanic remains a valuable account of how hundreds of our own people fared before, during and after that catastrophic night.

It is fascinating that almost a century after it's sinking the Titanic legend continues to resonate across the generations in Ireland. On the one hand it has become a byword for ill-fated ventures and on the other a byword for courage and endurance in the face of terrible adversity. Who can ever forget the haunting sound of "Nearer, My God to Thee" being sung as the ship went down in the film "A Night to Remember"?. Inside a few terrible hours on that night, hopes and dreams were shattered, families were torn apart and the lives of all who survived were changed utterly.

It is around a handful of those survivors that Martina has built her "Ship of Dreams". Martina has described the discovery of the fate of a man just three generations removed from her as a moment when "a switch flickered on and history stepped out of the shadows". Armed with the bare facts on how Tom and Hannah came to be on the Titanic and their fate when it sunk, Martina has now weaved a truly gripping story of what becomes of that small group of survivors, Hannah among them, who meet on one of the Titanic's lifeboats, all of them saved from death by random choice.

As with all of Martina's books, "Ship of Dreams" is more than just a gripping and exciting read.

The thread of decency, of humanity and of the indomitable human spirit runs right through this captivating book. It is there just as it has been in her other five books. And I'm sure you will agree with me that never was this more evident than when she published "The Hollow Heart", her very moving personal account of fertility treatment. Its honesty in addressing what was for so many is a taboo subject continues to strike a chord among couples struggling in similar circumstances. Indeed, Martina tells me that two years on its impact has not lessened and she still receives large volumes of emails from home and abroad.

Martina, of course, is an award winning journalist, as well as an award-winning author. During her career in journalism she has interviewed hundreds of well-known people, from gangster Reggie Kray to one of the great legends of the silver screen, Audrey Hepburn. A few times along the way Martina even found time to interview me. I met Martina for the first time on a particularly sad occasion when I was representing the Government at the funerals of some of the victims of the Omagh bomb outrage. Martina was back in her native town covering the funerals for the Irish Independent. As we meet here again this evening I'm sure that Martina, and everyone else, share in the relief that those dark, menacing days of death and destruction are now behind us and we can all look forward to a new era of peace and prosperity on the whole island of Ireland.

Later, I recall, Martina interviewed me when I was put in charge of Ireland's Millennium celebrations. Martina listened patiently as I told her of the great cultural and heritage events we had lined up. Years later Martina told me that for that particular assignment she was really more interested in finding out when the fireworks were starting and where the parties were on.

You have said Martina that one of the good things about journalism is that it teaches you that you have no right to be read—you have to entertain and stimulate to capture the readers attention.

And you do entertain and stimulate in this new book. It draws us into the lives of that small band of survivors, taking us from the factory floor to film premiers, from tenements to townhouses and from impoverished rural Ireland to the highest echelons of New York society.

You have written Martina that when you set out on your voyage of discovery you wanted to reclaim Hannah and her daughter, Marion, for the family.

But above all you said you wanted to recover a young and brave man, Tom O'Brien, your great grand uncle who never lives to see the US or his child. In "Ships of Dreams" you have given these people a voice. I know that if they were here with us this evening, Tom, Hannah and Marion, they would be proud of how you have remembered and honoured them.

When I was putting together these words for this evening, a few lines from a Christy Moore song came to mind about the voyage through life.

He sang:

"Life is an ocean

Love is a boat

In troubled waters it keeps us afloat.

When we started the voyage there was just me and you

And now gathered round us we have our own crew"

Finally, let me say that you have a great crew around you Martina of family, devoted friends, admirers and readers. Congratulations Martina on a fine book that will no doubt inspire others to delve into their past and to give voices to those now long silenced by history and the passing of time.

:: Ship of Dreams by Martina Devlin is published by Poolbeg

:: Click Here for more information on 'Ship of Dreams'