Formal twinning signed

JOINING FORCES Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Cllr Gerry Coyle and Mayor Manuel Rodriguez of the Municipalidad De Almirante Brown sign the parchments to officially twin the two areas. Front row, from left: Cllr Gerry Coyle, Mayor Manuel Rodriguez and Dr Jorgea Vllauerde, Member of Argentinan Parliament. Back row, from left: John Condon, County Secretary; Cllr Jimmy Maloney; Brendan Henaghan, Castlebar Town Mayor; Des Mahon, County Manager; Captain Guillermo Oyarzabal; Argentinan Navy and Niall Sheridan, Mayo County Council. Pic: Tom Campbell

Formal twinning signed

Michael Duffy

THE Admiral Brown celebrations that have been taking place this year in Mayo and Argentina were cemented in full on Friday afternoon last when Mayo County Council and the Municipalidad De Almirante Brown, Argentina announced their formal twinning at a ceremony in Áras an Chondae.
The Argentinean Mayor of the aforementioned municipality, Manuel Fredo Roderiquez, and elected member of parliament for Argentina, Antonio Valerade, headed a 20-strong delegation from South America who were obviously delighted and proud to be in attendance at the ceremony.
Another man who was extremely proud to sign the formal twinning documents was outgoing Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Cllr Gerry Coyle, who travelled back from New York for what was his last official engagement as Cathaoirleach.
The addresses from Cllr Coyle and Mr Roderiquez were translated into both English and Spanish for the convenience of those in attendance, with Cllr Coyle beginning by saying he was delighted to have made it back in time from New York (where he was attending a boxing match involving his son, Henry) for this wonderful occasion.
“I want to extend a Céad Míle Fáilte to all those who have travelled so far to be here today. This gives us the opportunity to repeat the huge welcome which our delegation received on our recent visit to Argentina. It was so great to meet so many people of Irish descent out there.
“I want to thank everyone on both sides for persevering to make sure this day would become a reality. We will now be able to establish even closer links and continue to heighten awareness of the huge achievements of Admiral William Brown,” said Cllr Coyle.
Mayor Roderiquez said it waswith a ‘deep sense of longing’ that he came to Mayo to perform this honour.
“We are here to reinforce the link created by Admiral Brown who was born here in Co Mayo but made his home in our homeland. It was men like Brown who actually gave us the privilege of being Argentinean and we are here to pay homage to a great man in his homeland,” said Mayor Roderiquez.