Aughagower people hope new Canadian Prime Minister will visit west Mayo village

HOPES are high in Aughagower that the new Prime Minister of Canada will honour his roots by bestowing them a visit. 

Locals in the west Mayo village have reacted with excitement to the ascension of Mark Carney to the highest office in Canada. Mr Carney has three grandparents from the area and is a first cousin of Pat Carney, father of Tom Carney, who operates Carney’s Quarry in Aughagower. 

Plans are now afoot to issue a formal invitation through the Canadian Embassy in Ireland for the new Prime Minister to visit the village. 

Mr Carney, despite never having held political office, was chosen to succeed the outgoing Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, Justin Trudeau. 

Mr Carney, a former governor of the Bank of England and the Bank of Canada, secured the top job with 86 percent of the votes of 152,000 party members.

Local businessman John Pat Scott told The Mayo News that locals are hoping that Mr Carney will visit Aughagower during his term of office. 

Canadians are due to hold a general election by no later than October, meaning Mr Carney’s term of office may be short-lived. His predecessor, Mr Trudeau, spent nine years as Prime Minister before stepping down amid low approval ratings and the looming threat of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. 

Mr Scott said that Aughagower people are hoping for a ‘Biden-Ballina’ moment akin to the visit of President Joe Biden to his ancestral home in Ballina. 

“It would be unbelievable,” he said. 

Mr Carney has never visited Aughagower, but his grandfather, Robert, who was reared in Ayle, returned to visit the village during the 1980s.

Though he has spoken fondly of his Irish roots, Mr Carney has begun renouncing his Irish and British citizenship to demonstrate his commitment to being Prime Minister. 

According to Politico, he hung a small map of Mayo by his office door at the Bank of England in honour of his grandfather.

Collette Sheridan, Chairperson of Aughagower Community Council, told The Mayo News that there is an open invitation for Mr Carney to visit Aughagower.