This article is from page 36 of the 2007-06-12 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 36 JPG
THE citizens of Kilkee will don their berets, prepare a few baguettes and gather in the Diamond Rocks Cafe this Thursday to celebrate 25 years of twinning with the French town of Plouhinec.
By celebrating the silver anniver- sary organisers hope to form a new twinning committee and reinvigor- ate the relationship between the west Clare seaside town and the small French town.
Kilkee Town Twinning Steering Group is looking for new blood to join the Kilkee-Plouhinec Twinning Association as ordinary, affiliate, or junior members.
It is proposed to form a new man- agement committee to revitalise the twinning arrangements between Kilkee and Plouhinec and realise the benefits of town twinning for the community.
The group are particularly encour- aging young people to get involved as it promises opportunities to travel and broaden language experiences and provide alternative work place- ments.
The steering group is also encour- aging clubs, groups, and organisa- tions in Kilkee and surrounding ar- eas to contact the association with a view to exploring the potential of twinning.
Those interested in joining are
asked to part take in the 25th anni- versary celebrations in the Diamond Rocks Café at 7.30pm.
Kilkee was formally twinned with Plouhinec, the small town in south- ern Brittany, in 1983 after initial con- tacts were made in 1982.
The aim of the Kilkee Twinning Association is to promote and foster friendship and understanding be- tween the people of Kilkee, Plouhi- nec and their hinterlands and associ- aK
It also aims to encourage visits by individuals and groups and the de- velopment of personal and organisa- tional contacts, thereby broadening mutual understanding of social, cul- tural, educational, sporting, recrea-
tional, civic and commercial activi- Woe
The idea of twinning was born after World War II when it was felt that establishing links between lo- cal communities from former enemy countries would contribute to secure peace in Europe. Since then, thou- sand of villages and towns in Europe have established twinning links.
Twinning aims at developing mutu- al understanding and cross-cultural awareness between people from dif- ferent cultures. It helps develop val- ues such as citizenship and tolerance. Above all, twinning is a fun way to discover how other European people live and make friends from different felt bau lone