Town twining relationships featured prominently during St Patrick's Day Parade in Clonmel
Clonmel and Costa Masnaga celebrate the 40th anniversary of town twinning link
The importance of Clonmel maintaining town twinning relationships featured prominently during the St Patrick’s Day Parade held today.
The parade not only marked the 150th anniversary of the death of Charles Bianconi but also the 40th anniversary of the town twinning link with Costa Masnaga, where Bianconi was born.
Special guests at the parade were public representatives and officials from Costa Masnaga. Clonmel’s twin town for the last 40 years.
Born in Costa Masnaga in 1786, Charles Bianconi made Clonmel his national headquarters for the horse-drawn carriage transportation business he established.
The Costa Masnaga group was delighted that the organisers of this year's parade in Clonmel had decided to acknowledge Charles Bianconi and his contribution to transport in Ireland, with Transport Through The Ages selected as the theme of the parade. Representatives from another twin town, Reading, also took part in the parade.
The Mayor of Clonmel thanked all the community groups whose participation made the parade such a success.
“A special word of thanks has to go to the organisers and all those who took part. It was a brilliant spectacle and a great celebration,” Cllr Pat English.
He went on to speak highly of the work put in over the years to develop a relationship between Clonmel and the six twin towns.
“It is very important we keep the links with our twin towns. The number of people coming from the twin towns to Clonmel and from Clonmel out to the twin towns is a huge boost for everyone between school trips and other community groups,” he said.
The St Patrick’s Day celebrations began with a flag-raising ceremony at St Patrick’s Well at 8:20 am.It was followed by a morning parade that departed Mitchell Street at 11:15 am before arriving at St Mary’s Church, Irishtown, for the annual St Patrick’s Day 12 noon Mass.
The main St Patrick’s Day Parade started at 3 pm, travelling from the West Gate to the Town Hall, led by Banna Cluain Meala.