Efforts ongoing to get the US President to visit Mayo
In one of his final addresses as Cathaoirleach of Ballina Municipal District, Councillor Seamus Weir said efforts are continuing to get US President Joe Biden to visit north Mayo 'very soon'.
Knockmore native Councillor Weir (Ind), whose 12-month term as Cathaoirleach came to an end today as he passed on the chain of office to Councillor Annie May Reape (Fianna Fáil), explained that he had spoken recently with Scranton City Council President William Gaughan, a man with strong Knockmore links, about the invite to Mayo for President Biden.
Councillor Weir revealed that Mr. Gaughan is very close with the Mr. Biden and the hope would be to get the President to visit Ballina in the near future, preferable in 2023 when the north Mayo capital will celebrate its 300th anniversary.
Scranton officials are themselves hoping that President Biden can visit the town in which he was born as they plan to name one of their bigger streets after him during celebrations scheduled to be held in September, Councillor Weir noted.
Back in January, Mr. Gaughan, as President of Scranton City Council, and the Mayor of Scranton, Paige Cognetti, addressed the monthly meeting of Ballina MD, which was held in an online setting.
President Biden has ancestors from Ballina and still has cousins living in north Mayo, and the links between the area and Scranton, Pennsylvania, are very strong, it was noted.
“You can't walk too far here (Scranton) without meeting someone who has links to Mayo, especially Ballina,” said Mr. Gaughan on the day.
The attendance of Mayor Cognetti and Mr. Gaughan was arranged to mark the inauguration of Mr. Biden as the 46th President of the United States.
In a reciprocal move, Councillor Weir, as then Cathaoirleach of Ballina MD, and Declan Turnbull, manager of Ballina MD, had both tuned into a Scranton City Council meeting on the evening prior to the Ballina MD meeting.
That day, Councillor Weir proposed working as a team to get Mr. Biden to visit Ballina, with Mayor Cognetti saying a quick proposal could be readied and sent to the White House straightaway. She also suggested that the towns could work on commemorating the 30-year anniversary of the twinning links between Scranton and Ballina.