France honours Jordan, Morrison

The two Irishmen looked out of place in the former bedroom of Napoleon's youngest brother, King Jerome of Westphalia. The French Ministry of Culture uses the salon overlooking the gardens of the Palais Royal for awards ceremonies, and Van Morrison and Neil Jordan arrived late to pick up the insignia of Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters.

Van Morrison wore black, from his tiny, high-heeled boots to the tip of his felt hat. The tails of Neil Jordan's white shirt hung out beneath his crumpled white jacket, and neither man wore a tie. But it didn't matter - the French like their artists scruffy.

And they certainly take the word "culture" very seriously. It was Andre Malraux, the late writer and de Gaulle's Minister of Culture, who founded the Order of Arts and Letters in 1957, "to reward persons who have distinguished themselves by their creation . . . or by their contribution to the influence of Arts and Letters in France and in the world". Since then some 30 Irishmen have been admitted to the Order.

Seamus Heaney holds the highest rank - that of Commander. Like Messieurs Morrison and Jordan, the pianist John O'Conor, the playwright Frank McGuinness and the painters Louis le Brocquy and James Coleman hold the rank of Officer.

Mrs Catherine Trautmann, the present Minister of Culture, praised the two paunchy, short men beside her as "exceptional personalities who symbolise the extraordinary creative capacity of Ireland . . . a living symbol of this country that we love".

Van Morrison's Belfast was "the story of 30 years of darkness", and Neil Jordan's characters, from Michael Collins to those of The Crying Game, also represented the history of Ireland. "A month ago the double referendum in Ireland opened a new page in the history of your country," Mrs Trautmann said. "The important elections that took place in Northern Ireland on June 25th confirm that this country has entered into a new era of peaceful cohabitation."

Before pinning the gold medal hanging from a green and white ribbon on Van Morrison's lapel, Mrs Trautmann read out the singer's biography - a more complete and less flattering version of which could be found in Liberation newspaper.

Morrison was to sing with Bob Dylan at the Paris Zenith concert hall last night. Born George Ivan Morrison in a little house at 125 Hyndford Street, east Belfast, on August 31st, 1945, Van Morrison left school at 15, already a professional musician. Mrs Trautmann cited Morrison's "meteoric rise" in the 1960s, with the album Them Again. In his American years, Morrison recorded the seminal Astral Weeks, followed by Moondance. The Minister said Morrison had provided more than 35 years of "unforgettable musical experiences".

True to character, Morrison mumbled a two-sentence thank you and fled the room. "It was very short," the Minister said, somewhat taken aback, before launching into her tribute to Neil Jordan.

Jordan, she said, "incarnates this movement of young Irish creators that developed in 1980s Dublin . . . before moving brilliantly on to the international scene". The Irish soul permeated his work, she said, describing eight of his films, including the most recent, Butcher Boy.

"You belong to the small circle of directors who can fill the world with wonder with the power and rigour of their art, with the breadth and depth of their imagination. You are one of our great European creators."