Twinning connections have brought Kilcullen and Saint-Contest closer

A sense of connections made during their visit to Kilcullen was clear at the last event for visitors from Kilcullen’s Normandy twin town, writes Brian Byrne. The goodbyes yesterday between their hosts and both new and previous Saint-Contest friends were genuinely warm at the get-together in the Heritage Centre.

The group, led by deputy mayor of Saint-Contest Stephane Guillot, were joined by representatives from Kildare County Council’s Community Department and Cllrs Tracey O’Dwyer and Rob Power. Stephane, after being released from a brief period of 'arrest', thanked everyone involved for a lovely experience. 

An exhibition by dancers from the Landers School of Dancing provided a suitable colourful bookend to a weekend which had included many highlights. Earlier in the day the group had attended a cookery demonstration in Kalbarri, where the youngest of the visitors Celeste Benbrahim — who had stolen the show at every part of the weekend — took a proper hands-on part.

For Tanya Flanagan of the Kilcullen Twinning Group, the experience had been 'really lovely'. "Everybody was very supportive within the community," she told the Diary. "It wasn't hard to put a good programme together because everybody we approached never hesitated." She particularly noted the effort put in by the schools, and the welcomes by local businesses visited on the first day. "Staying local that day kind of grounded the visit, they got a good sense of what the community was all about." The availability of the Garda Community Bus, organised by Gda Jon Brien was also really appreciated. "That was fabulous. Knowing that we had transport for two days made a big difference."

Stephane Guillot said his group had been very impressed by how much they had been welcomed by everybody they met. "What we really appreciated was that we met real Irish people. We spoke to the kids in schools, we spoke to the teachers, to the people we met in Nolans, the bookshop. Twinning is all about people, and we have made good friends." He believes the twinning programme will develop further over the coming years, and one over-riding sense that the people of Saint-Contest bring back to their home is of connection. "I feel we have a lot in common with the Irish people, I go back feeling we are very close to you."

(All the visit photos can be seen here.)

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