This article is from page 26 of the 2007-11-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 26 JPG
A CONTINGENT of 15 people from St Patrick’s Comprehensive College in Shannon have just returned from Shannon’s twin town of Guingamp in France.
The group of two teachers and 13 students spent a week on an exchange with the College Jacques Prevert, in north Brittany.
Their French teacher Patricia Spaight and school chaplain Nuala Murray accompanied the students on the trip. While similar initiatives have taken place previously, this was the first time that the group twinned with a public school. The previous trips involved private schools.
As part of the exchange, a group of students from the French college
will return to Shannon in April. The Shannon students stayed with host families during the trip and the hos- pitality will be returned by the Shan- non families in April.
The group visited several venues. They took a number of day trips and took in a local museum, sports activi- ties and played a rugby match against their hosts.
Their arrival was followed by a reception hosted at the local Town Hall, where the mayor’s assistant made them feel very special. The Guingamp twinning committee also met with the Shannon group and made them feel at home.
“Everybody had a great time. There were tears shed when we were com- ing home,’ said Ms Spaight.
‘They are all keen to go back,” she
added.
“They were all very kind to us,” added Ms Spaight.
One of the highlights for the visiting students was the dancing lessons!
“They showed us how to do the Breton dance, while we showed them how to do the Siege of Ennis,” said Ms Spaight.
This event 1s part of the overall twinning initiative between Shannon and Guingamp. It includes visits be- tween both sides, at various stages of the year.
The introduction of the student ex- change adds an existing element for young people interested in learning more about France.
Over the years, the twinning initia- tive has been a huge success and has enabled Shannon to be marketed in
echelon
Since the official twinning charter was signed in 1990, the initiative has gone from strength to strength and the links have strengthened between the two areas.
Guingamp has a population of 10,000 and the main industry is ag- riculture.
Last year, the outgoing Mayor of Shannon, Councillor Tony McMahon cited the twinning trips as among his fondest memories, during his term as mayor.