American Sisters embraced for Community & Economic Benefit

American Sisters embraced for Community & Economic Benefit

 Sister Cities

Carlow County Council recently welcomed a delegation from Tempe Arizona as part of The USA –Ireland Sister Cites Summit 2016 –Independence and Interdependence –A Dialogue based on the Strength of City to City Connection, reflecting the need for towns and cities globally to work together to improve the lives of individuals and tackle common urban challenges, which was held in Dublin and across Ireland and hosted by Dublin City Council.

The summit of Irish and USA Sister Cities provided an opportunity to explore how best to develop relations for the future in order to benefit the economies and communities of Carlow & Temple. Speaking about the exchange, Michael Brennan from Carlow County Council’s Community Development Department said “Partnerships form the foundation of all community work and it is important to acknowledge the level of learning and development that we can benefit from as a result of international exchanges, sharing best practice, and ideas from across the Globe which can be embraced at grass roots level in Carlow”.

The former Carlow Town Council twinned with Tempe Sister City Arizona in 1997 and the delegation visited Carlow during the period 20th -21st April 2016 prior to attending the summit in Dublin which was part of 2016 celebrations and also the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Sister Cities International by President Eisenhower.  The delegation during their visit to Carlow explored opportunities and the building of new partnerships  in the areas of civic, economic, social, cultural, sporting and educational development  by identifying and planning potential collaborative projects. The delegation met with Carlow County Council’s Chief Executive Kathleen Holohan, and visited a number of locations in particular IT Carlow and Carlow College. The visit was also an opportunity to redefine the relationship between Tempe and Carlow in the context of the shared commitment to develop further relations in the future.

From an economic viewpoint Carlow showcased its attributes at the Conference which was attended by some 200 US city mayors, business, education and youth leaders from many of the sixty United States cities that are twinned with Irish local authorities.

Speaking about the engagement , Kieran Comerford – Head of Enterprise with the Council’s Local Enterprise Office said “building international links is essential in the development of Carlow’s economic eco-system and we are delighted to build new relationships which hopefully will develop into economic activities between Carlow companies and the US”.