Street named to mark twinning anniversary
The French Ambassador to Ireland, Stephane Crouzat, was in town last Friday to officially unveil a new street sign as part of the 21st Anniversary of Roscommon Chartrettes Town Twinning. The laneway which connects The Square to the county council car park off Church Street, was named Alleé De Chartrettes in honour of the link between the two towns.
The unveiling was followed by a reception at Arás an Chontae for the Ambassador and 31 visitors from Chartrettes, including the town’s Deputy Mayor Pascal Gros and members of the Chartrettes Twinning Committee, whose visit had coincided with the Roscommon Lamb Festival last weekend. The French visiting party was treated to music by Bill Cunningham and an impressive ‘Lord of the Dance’ spectacle by Mary Dolan’s Roscommon Academy of Dance. This was followed by formal speeches in the council chamber and a food and drinks reception.
The French Ambassador was clearly impressed by his reception in Roscommon.
“I am absolutely delighted to be here. I wasn’t expected such unbelievable dancing, it was very, very impressive,” he said before describing town twinning as “very important”.
“There are around 150 such ‘twinnings’ around the country, many between Irish towns and towns in Brittany. I am delighted to see that the Roscommon Chartrettes Twinning is extremely active. It is so important to have relations at local level and for populations on both sides to get to know each other.
“After Brexit, France will be Ireland’s closest European Union neighbour and that will open new opportunities”.
Monsieur Crouzat went on to highlight the proposed ‘Celtic Interconnector’, a submarine power cable which will link Ireland and France and allow for the movement of power between both countries.
He said that this would encourage more trade and investment on both sides adding that current relations between the two countries are “very healthy and thriving”. More coverage: Page 44
