A recent visit by a delegation from the Breton city of Lorient to Galway has been hailed as a ‘great success’ that will help grow the connections between the twinned cities.
That was according to Mayor of Lorient, Fabrice Loher, who also thanked the people of Galway for their immense hospitality during the visit.
Mayor Loher led an eight-person delegation from Brittany to Galway as part of the efforts to enhance the academic, commercial and cultural links between the two regions.
This followed a visit by a Galway delegation to Lorient in March.
During the course of their visit to Galway, the Lorient delegation held a range of meetings with a number of key organisations.
These included Galway Chamber, Galway Technology Centre, Portershed, WestBIC, Údarás na Gaeltachta, Galway Harbour, NUI Galway and Atlantic Technological University (ATU).
The Galway Lorient Twinning Committee also organised a ‘Mini Brittany Festival’, which included sean nós workshops, trad sessions, Breton dancers from Lorient, outdoor Breton games, and a pop art exhibition of Breton rural life.
The visit finished with an official dinner, hosted by Mayor of Galway Colette Connolly in honour of the Lorient delegation.
Speaking following the visit, Mayor Loher said that they were delighted that the trip was a great success, and that they had the opportunity to further strengthen the ties between Lorient and Galway.
“We were keen to use the opportunity provided by this trip to build further connections on many levels between our cities and I think that is exactly what we were able to do during this visit,” he said.
“I would like to thank the people of Galway for their superb hospitality, as well as all those who took the time to meet with us and receive us for this visit.
“It was a fascinating trip and I hope there will now be many more opportunities for engagement between our cities and our people in the future.”
Aengus Burns, President of Galway Chamber, said they were honoured to host this high level delegation from Lorient and that they had the opportunity to showcase the many different faces of Galway.
“Over the course of their visit we were able to highlight the dynamic nature of Galway and what it has to offer from a business, tourism, academic and cultural viewpoint,” he said.
“This was a great opportunity to promote Galway and given the connection that these trips have helped to re-establish, hopefully it will lead to an ongoing level of partnership on multiple levels between our two cities and regions.”
