Council’s St Patrick’s trip costs €50k

CORK County Council spent over €50,000 sending eight councillors and eight officials to New York, Chicago and Detroit for St Patrick’s Day over the past week.

The breakdown of the costs include €26,800.40 for flights while the cost of hotels came to €23,409.

The Chicago trip, which was led by county mayor Cllr Frank O’Flynn, lasted from Wednesday March 13th to Monday March 18th.

The other two trips to New York and Detroit were shorter in duration and were from Friday March 15th to Wednesday March 20th and Tuesday March 19th respectively.

County mayor Cllr Frank O’Flynn led the Chicago delegation where he was accompanied by Cllr Gillian Coughlan, Cllr Noel McCarthy and Cllr Ian Doyle, while deputy county mayor John Healy led a delegation along with Cllr John Paul O’Shea to Detroit. Meanwhile, Cllr Alan Coleman and Cllr Mary Linehan Foley accompanied interim chief executive Valerie O’Sullivan and director of services Patricia Liddy to New York.

A Council spokesperson said the focus of the delegations was both to promote Cork as an attractive destination with top class visitor attractions, conference facilities and amenities as well as continuing to strengthen the connections between county Cork and the United States.

The Chicago delegation included the chief executive of Visit Cork and representatives of the Irish Hotels Federation Cork branch including president Michael Magner.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Cork County Cook County Sistership agreement, which is the longest international relationship in Cook County.

Meanwhile, in New York the delegation participated in the city’s parade, addressed the Cork New York Association and carried out other formal engagements.

Those who visited Detroit also had meetings with tourism operators and a variety of media opportunities.

‘The delegation’s key mission was to maximise the potential of the links already forged while continuing to expand opportunities between Cork county and the United States,’ said a council spokesperson.