Athlone group hopes successful US visit will lead to twinning arrangement

The Cathaoirleach of Westmeath County Council, Cllr Aengus O'Rourke, said a trip which he and others from Athlone made to Providence, in Rhode Island, laid "a solid foundation" for establishing formal twinning links between the two areas.

The local group spent a little under a week in the East Coast US city, visiting from February 28 until March 5. The trip was led by Cllr O'Rourke and members of the recently-formed Athlone-Providence Twinning Committee.

The delegation included Donnacha McNamara, Vice President International at TUS, local businesspeople John Henson and Caoimhe O'Connell, the Mayor of the Athlone Moate Municipal District, Cllr Vinny McCormack, the president of Athlone Chamber of Commerce, Alan Shaw, and Pat Murtagh, Senior Executive Officer with Westmeath County Council.

Their visit included meetings with the new Mayor of Providence, Brett Smiley; district judge Mary McElroy, who is the Grand Marshal of this year's Providence St Patrick's Day parade; and State Representatives Scott Slater and Mary Duffy Mercier.

Gifts including paintings of Athlone by artist Anna Boles, and bottles of Sean's Bar whiskey, were presented by the local group to the dignitaries they met in Rhode Island.

The meeting with State Representatives Slater and Mercier resulted in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding "which sets us now on a path to twin Athlone and Providence." The Memorandum of Understanding was signed on the Athlone side by councillors O'Rourke and McCormack.

"Our good friend and Athlone native, Patrick Griffin, who is living in Providence over 30 years and has a business there, played a vital role in organising meetings on the Rhode Island side and providing key introductions during our visit," said Cllr O'Rourke.

"John Henson, as secretary to our group, was also pivotal to organising this successful visit. Our meetings across the four days were centred around how we could work together into the future in a mutually beneficial way."

During a meeting with the Director of Providence Chamber of Commerce, Angie DiMeo, the president of Athlone Chamber, Alan Shaw, gave a presentation and both chambers agreed to work together to help advance the process of twinning Athlone with Providence.

Cllr O'Rourke said the highlight of the trip was the Athlone delegation meeting with the Mayor of Providence in his office at City Hall.

"This meeting provided us with an opportunity to discuss the common interests, goals and challenges facing both cities. Mayor Smiley had already been briefed by various colleagues in the Senate and House of Representatives and was very much aware of the twinning proposition.

"As an avid runner himself, Mayor Smiley was interested in the International Sports Arena at TUS. He also advised that he had visited Dublin in the past and would love a future visit to Athlone with a delegation from Providence in the future.

"Overall, it was agreed that the visit by the Athlone delegation to Providence was very successful and has laid a solid foundation to enable the twinning project to move forward at both Local Government level and with all the various stakeholders on both sides."

Athlone Chamber president Alan Shaw described the visit as an important step in building on relationships that had been developed between the town and Providence over the years.

"It is crucial that Athlone establishes formal ties with a US city, given the expanding level of investment by US companies in the Midland region," he commented.

Donnacha McNamara, Vice President International, TUS, added that the local technological university, "has ambitions around exploring study abroad, industry engagement opportunities, short and long term mobilities and the opportunity for research collaboration with education partners in Providence.

"The delegation met with Senior Vice President John Sweeney, from Providence College, and the area of collaborations under several headings were discussed. Providence College have a successful track and field programme led by Irish athlete Ray Treacy.

"Possible reciprocal training opportunities in conjunction with the Athlone International Arena were discussed, as well as teaching mobility opportunities for TUS and Providence College faculty," said Mr McNamara.