The Letterkenny-Milford municipal district is exploring the revival of a twinning partnership with Elizabethtown in Pennsylvania.
It’s 23 years since the Letterkenny Town Council first signed a memorandum of understanding with the Elizabethtown borough in Lancaster County. However, despite the enduring close links between the towns, the dissolution of town councils in Ireland ended the official partnership.
The people of Elizabethtown still consider Letterkenny as a sister-city “in their hearts” and have sought to create a new memorandum.
During the summer of 2024, Elizabethtown photographer Kim Winey crossed the Atlantic to visit Donnan Harvey of the Letterkenny Cathedral Quarter group. She also met with Letterkenny Mayor Gerry McMonagle and Cllr Ciaran Brogan to discuss reconnecting with Elizabethtown after 10 years.
As a result, councillors of the Letterkenny-Milford MD yesterday agreed to move forward with developing a programme for the Twinning arrangement once more.
Cllr Gerry McMonagle said the town council had a long-lasting and mutually beneficial relationship with Elizabethtown in the past. The borough worked closely with the LYIT (now ATU) on student exchanges and members of Letterkenny Town Council visited Elizabethtown during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.
“It’s a suburban town, we always had a good relationship over those years and built up a good understanding with them,” said Cllr McMonagle.
“I think it would be a good thing to do, They have an interest in Letterkenny and showed that interest when they came to visit in recent months. They loved what they saw.”
Councillors passed a motion to set up a Zoom meeting with the Elizabethtown Representatives to agree on a programme for the Twinning arrangement.
Cllr Michael McBride welcomed the move, saying that Letterkenny could gain new learnings from the success of retirement living communities in Pennsylvania.
Cllr Ciaran Brogan expressed his hope that the process would be a straightforward case of reviving the old partnership without going through the formalities again.
Featured photo: A former sign celebrating the Letterkenny-Elizabethtown twinning on theDry Arch Roundabout – photo byRichard Webb
