Gorey seeks new relationships as it remains only town in Wexford without established twinning partner

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

Enniscorthy has Blacktown. New Ross has Danville. Rosslare has Dunkirk and also Fishguard. While the Wexford Borough has Couëron, Lugo and, most recently, NIzhyn.

These sister/twinning arrangements have fostered strong economic ties between Wexford’s districts and these overseas regions, and that’s before you even mention the partnership between the county and Savannah in Georgia.

Yet while their neighbours in the rest of Co Wexford welcome dignitaries from Australia, America, and Ukraine to their environs, the people of Gorey watch on from afar, with no-one to visit nor pay a visit to.

Indeed, apart from a video call with their pals in Oban 11 years ago, the north Wexford town has been bereft of friends from far-flung lands. However, that may soon be about to change following a discussion at the July meeting of the Gorey Kilmuckridge Municipal District (GKMD).

There, Councillor Anthony Donahue said it was about time Gorey started making overtures to potential partners.

“We were previously twinned with Oban in Scotland but I would like to see us explore other potential connections with towns in Europe,” he said. “I think we had one video call with Oban in 2015 and that was it.”

Director of services Liz Hore said she was already looking into a suitable connection for the district but stressed the importance of twinning with a kindred spirit.

“It’s important we look at an area similar to Gorey, somewhere with a coastal, maritime heritage,” she said. “Normandy has now expanded into nine territories, one of those is the Channel Islands which includes Jersey and it has a town called Gorey - although it is a difficult place to get to.”

Gorey, Jersey, is a village in the parishes of St Martin and Grouville and is renowned for the Mont Orgueil castle which looms over its harbour.

Aside from the appeal of being twinned with their namesake, Ms Hore said any new partnership would have to reap financial rewards for the GKMD.

“We are going to look at where might be a good fit in terms of having an economic impact. When you look at how beneficial the link has been with Savannah it needs to be somewhere with a strong strategic connection,” she added.