President Connolly welcomed to Mulranny on start of west Mayo tour
President Catherine Connolly given a warm welcome on her visit to St Brendan's Community Village Project
President of Ireland Catherine Connolly received a raputeous welcome to Mulranny this morning as she begins the first leg of her visit to west Mayo.
Local school children from Mulranny National School performed a guard of honour and waved mini tricolours, as President Connolly was piped into St Brendan's Community Village Project by members of the Mulranny/Tiernuar Pipeband.
President Connolly was welcomed to St Brendan's by its chairman, former Mayo TD, Dr Jerry Cowley as well as local representatives including Minister Dara Calleary and Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council Cllr Seán Carey and local councillor Paul McNamara.
A large crowd braved the damp conditions to welcome President Connolly to Mulranny and during her visit to St Brendan's, she met with staff and residents of the St Brendan's High Support Unit and the adjacent sheltered housing units along with representatives from local community groups.
The visit to Mulranny is the first stop for President Connolly who will also travel to Achill this afternoon with engagements in St Colman's Care Centre in Keel and at the Achill RNLI lifeboat station in Cloughmore.President Connolly is due to arrive in St Colman's at 1pm to celebrate 40 years of care and community and meet with people who have attended, volunteered, worked, supported, donated or helped in any way over the last 40 years.
President Connolly's final engagement of the day will be to the Achill Island RNLI Lifeboat Station in Cloughmore where she will join the crew and volunteers of the lifeboat at 4pm as they celebrate their 30th anniversary. The president will be given a tour of the lifeboat station before unveiling a plaque to mark the 30th anniversary of the first RNLI lifeboat to Achill.