Cork representatives travel to San Francisco on St Patrick’s festival delegation

A triumvirate of lords mayor has taken flight, as the current Lord Mayor, Green Party councillor Dan Boyle, is joined by two of his predecessors on a St Patrick’s festival delegation to Cork’s sister city of San Francisco.

Joining Mr Boyle are two Fianna Fáil councillors and former lords mayor, Colm Kelleher, and Terry Shannon, who is chair of the council’s international relations and tourism strategic policy committee.

According to Cork City Council, the visit to will focus on the importance of the economic partnership between the San Francisco bay area and Cork.

The bay area investment into Ireland between 2017 and 2022 was worth $30.6bn, and more than 10,000 people in Cork are employed by companies headquartered in the bay area.

The visit’s programme includes an engagement with Apple, marking the 45th anniversary of the establishment of the company’s operations in Cork city.

The Lord Mayor will also meet with the recently inaugurated 46th mayor of San Francisco, Daniel Lurie, who has expressed interest in leading a return delegation visit to Cork city. They will explore opportunities for the development of exchange programmes in areas of strategic importance to both cities, including city centre development and support for small-to-medium sized enterprises.

During his visit to the United States, Mr Boyle will also pay a visit to New York’s Corkonian diaspora, attending the County Cork Association Ball.

Speaking ahead of the visit, the Lord Mayor said that following the celebration last year of the 40th anniversary of Cork’s twinning with San Francisco, the relationship has gone from strength to strength.

“Engagement with the bay area is of strategic value to our city, and I am looking forward to a busy programme,” he said.

“Working with our city partners, San Francisco City Hall, the Irish Consulate General and State Agencies, I am confident we will work to deliver results for Cork,” he said.

Accompanying the three elected representatives on their trip to San Francisco are two members of the council executive, Rebecca Loughry, director of corporate and community affairs, and Dr Niall O’Keeffe, head of enterprise.

Conor Healy, CEO of Cork Chamber is also on the delegation, as are Professor Ursula Kilkelly, vice-president of global engagement, University College Cork; Dr Seán McSweeney, dean of the faculty of engineering, Munster Technological University; Superintendent John Deasy, An Garda Siochána; and Pat McKelvey, director of schools, Cork Education and Training Board.

The visit began on Monday, March 3 and will run until Monday, March 10.