|
|
 US President Barack Obama accepts invitation from An Taoiseach Enda Kenny Its official, US President Barack Obama has accepted an invitation from An Taoiseach Enda Kenny, to visit Moneygall, latter situated on the borders of Offaly and Tipperary, here in Ireland, this coming May.
Speaking at the end of a meeting in the Oval Office with Taoiseach Enda Kenny, President Obama said he is looking forward to visiting Ireland. The President stated ‘I want to say today, that I intend to come to Ireland in May, but the date of the visit has yet to be finalised.’
He said he is ‘excited ‘ about visiting all the famous sites, but also to visit the place his great, great, great, great, great, grandfather hails from, in Moneygall. Taoiseach Enda Kenny stated the visit was a vote of confidence in the Irish people, at a time of great fiscal difficulty.
The Taoiseach assured the US President of a rapturous welcome, and said jokingly that if he wanted a round of golf he would be happy to join him.
President Obama joked back, that he had heard Mr Kenny was a good golfer, so he himself would have to practice.
On a more serious front, the US president and the Taoiseach also discussed how Ireland will bounce back from economic turmoil. Mr Obama confirmed the willingness of the United States to continue to co-operate with and give practical assistance wherever and whenever possible. “There is just an incredible bond between our two countries,” the president said from the Oval Office.” And that’s one that we want to reaffirm here today.”
Taoiseach Enda Kenny was in the White House meeting Mr Obama today for the traditional St Patrick’s Day presentation of shamrock.
Last night, Mr Kenny addressed around 1,000 guests at the annual gala dinner of the American Ireland Fund. The American Ireland Fund is aiming to raise $100m for Irish charities by the end of 2013.
Enda Kenny’s also had meetings with Vice President Joe Biden and US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
Click for UPDATE
 Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States USA’s 31st Irish President Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth II are likely to visit Ireland in late May or early June of 2011.
In the case of President Obama his visit is likely to coincide with other European engagements. “The end of May is likely,” said an official, familiar with discussions regarding Mr Obama’s forthcoming trip to Europe. Records unearthed by the Church of Ireland’s Rev. Canon Stephen Neill show beyond doubt that Mr Obama’s ancestors, on his mother’s side lived, worked, married and had children in the Moneygall area, situated on the border separating counties Tipperary and Offaly. It is expected that the president will wish to visit his ancestral home during this visit.
Mr Obama and his wife, US first lady Michelle Obama, will visit Britain on a state visit at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II, from May 24th to 26th. He will travel on to Deauville, France, for the G8 Summit on May 26th to 27th. Discussions within the US administration are now focused on whether Mr Obama should visit Ireland before London or after Deauville and the White House hope it is before the UK, visit according to US officials.
Neither the White House, the Irish Embassy in Washington nor indeed the US embassy in Dublin would confirm officially that a visit is likely in late May. Discussions about the trip appear not to have, so far, involved the Irish government, with the speculation that the US are waiting for Irish politics to be fully clarified over the coming week.
 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II The annual St Patrick’s Day pilgrimage to Washington will be one of the first acts of our new Taoiseach Enda Kenny and if the May expected visit materialises, a visit is likely to be announced at the White House during the St Patrick’s Day reception.
Democratic congressman Richard Neal, the former head of the Friends of Ireland in the House of Representatives, stated that a visit to Ireland would have obvious implications for Mr Obama’s re-election campaign.
Planning in relation to both visits is somewhat complicated by the fact that Irish President Mary McAleese has already issued an invitation to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, to visit Ireland, probably also in late May or June.
Regarding Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s II visit, there may be a reluctance on the part of the Irish government to take on two such important visits so close together, however these logistics are something that both governments will be anxious to negotiate.
Queen Elizabeth II, although she has never visited Thurles, has strong ancestral connections with the town and is a direct descendant of Viscount and Lady Thurles through their eldest son, the Duke of Ormond. The Duke’s daughter, Elizabeth, married Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl Chesterfield, and their daughter Elizabeth Stanhope married John Lyon, 4th Earl Strathmore. Six generations later in direct line was the 14th Earl Strathmore whose daughter, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon married the future King George VI; and these are the grandparents of Prince Charles. Thurles is therefore expected to be included as a stop off point in any proposed future visit.
Many of Queen Elizabeth’s ancestors are buried at St. Mary’s Church here in Thurles, including Lady Elizabeth Butler,(Elizabeth Poyntz, Acton, 1673.) from whom she inherited her christian name. Sophie Helen Rhys-Jones, wife of Prince Edward attended a funeral on behalf of the British Royal Family in November last, here in Upperchurch, Thurles, Co Tipperary.
On March 3rd next, Shannon Development, in conjunction with Failte Ireland will, once again, hold their annual Shannon Region tourism briefing. This briefing will take place in the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ennis Rd, Limerick with registration at 10.30am (starting time 11am).
The Shannon Development team will be joined by executives from Failte Ireland as well as Tourism Ireland to present our plans for 2011.
Shannon Development hope that those involved in the tourism industry will be in a position to join them on the day and they look forward to meeting with as many members of the industry as possible, because your input is vital to their work.
This event is also a useful opportunity to network with peers in the tourism sector and to exchange ideas.
RSVP: If you are planning to attend, please rsvp to Bernadette Kelly, Tel: 061 710433. Email: kellyb@shannondevelopment.ie
Shannon Development also launched a new school tours brochure on Wednesday last in an effort to capitalise on the potential of the school tours business for Tipperary.
St.Mary’s Famine Museum, here in Thurles has been attracting school tours for the past 10 years, not only from County Tipperary, but also from surrounding counties, particularly from Limerick, Cork, Offaly and Kilkenny. The Museum offers lecture facilities to all visitors and students and the opportunity to examine at first hand primary sources from the Great Famine period 1845 to 1849 in accordance with the Irish Department of Education history guidelines.
The Museum which is open to the public from May1st to September 31st, each year is also available to tour groups all year round by appointment.
Contact: Telephone: 0504-21133 or Email: george.willo@gmail.com
Amongst its many attractions are the only surviving records of a Famine Food Committee, a detailed record of relief given by local Soup Kitchen’s in 1846/47, plus a model of the town of Thurles 16ft x 8ft, as it was in 1846, recorded by a then civil servant, Thomas Hegarty.
Starting this month, a copy of the “School Tours 2011 in Ireland’s Shannon Region” will be distributed to every secondary school in the country and to all primary schools in the region and surrounding counties.
A major marketing blitz is also planned for the U.K. market.
 Ireland’s Shannon Region will host the 2011 Single Speed World Championship Biking Event.
The Ballyhoura Mountain Bike Trail, located on the borders of counties Limerick, Tipperary and Cork, will host this event which will feature an estimated 500 competitors from more than 30 countries around the world.
The Championships which are being hosted by Sports Academy International with the support of Shannon Development, will takes place on Saturday, 27 August 2011.
The region successfully beat off all other competition from around the world to host the annual event, which was held this year in New Zealand.
Since 1999 this event has attracted participants from throughout the globe and and hundreds of competitors visiting the southwest next August are expected to attract a much needed boost to the local economy.
Announcing the event Dr. Vincent Cunnane, CEO of Shannon Development said: “Winning this prestigious and colourful event for this area continues to endorse the Shannon Region as a premier sports and event destination, which brings over €60 million in revenue annually. With Limerick City’s designation as the European City of Sport for 2011 and the array of events already secured for the Region, 2011 is going to be a fantastic year.”
The Single Speed World Championship, or SSWC, is an annual event. It is only open to bicycles with a single gear ratio. Those bicycles can be either singlespeeds or ‘fixies’. Most of the bicycles used in these races are mountain bikes. However, many people take part in the race on cyclo-cross bicycles, racing bicycles and bicycles defying easy categorization.
Karen Brosnahan from Shannon Region Conference and Sports Bureau stated: “Tomas Madigan, joint CEO of Sports AI is a true ambassador for the Shannon Region. He competed in a sports event in New Zealand to win this event for the area beating South Africa and Italy, latter very worthy opponents. We are very proud of his efforts and all the more as he was one of the first people to sign up to the sports ambassadors’ programme, which we operate in partnership with Shannon Development.”
 Bowe Travel, Friar Street, Thurles, Co. Tipperary. Bowe Travel, Friar Street , Thurles Co. Tipperary have signed up with Amadeus, a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry.
Amadeus, thanks to its continued investment in IT and Research and Development, is able to offer state-of-the-art sales and reservations solutions to equip its business and leisure travel agency partners with a constantly evolving technology toolkit. Whether it is personal service and expert advice, the best fares, or a combination of the two; Amadeus is enabling the continued success of a growing number of travel professionals throughout Ireland.
Michael Bowe, Manager and proprietor of one of Ireland’s oldest and most respected travel agencies, who have been serving the travel industry since 1906 stated: “You don’t succeed in business as long as we have, without being able to adapt. And that’s what I like about Amadeus. It has adapted its solutions from point and click technology, which it was first to introduce to Ireland, to the latest easy-to-use, web based booking solutions which require virtually no training. Together with its local team of technology experts, I’m confident that we’ve made the right choice in selecting Amadeus as our technology partner to help us to build upon our reputation for excellence.”
Bowe Travel’s success in the ever changing modern day travel market, however, can not simply be explained just as using the right technology, it’s greatest success can be observed in its day to day management, willingness to compete and it’s unique ability to provide a full-time workforce which is versatile, highly trained and extremely qualified.
|
Support Us Help keep Thurles.info online by donating below. Thank you.
Total Donated 2026: €300.00
Thank You!
Daily Thurles Mass Livestream
|
Recent Comments