MORE than 50 visitors
from Campbellsville, Kentucky, visited their twin
town of Buncrana at the weekend. The party,
including 36 teenagers, was taken for an historical
walk and talk from the Stone Jug and around Swan
Park. They then went to Tullyarvan Mill where civic
presentations were exchanged and refreshments and
entertainment provided. “It was a pleasure to have
the visitors from Campbellsville with us last
Saturday. Buncrana was twinned with Campbellsville
back in the days when Fruit of the Loom employed
thousands of people in both towns," said local
mayor, Cllr Pádraig MacLochlainn.
"Of course, Fruit of the Loom has now moved on to
South America and North Africa and our communities
have had to start again in terms of employment."
Cllr MacLochlainn said Buncrana had "much to learn"
from how Campbellsville picked itself up after the
Loom redundancies.
“After the departure of Fruit of the Loom, they
managed to attract the retail giant Amazon to locate
in their town and they now employ over 1,000 people
there and many more on a temporary basis at peak
times like Christmas.
"They also attracted manufacturing companies from
Korea and other Asian countries with their dedicated
focus."
He added: “I would like to thank the staff of
Buncrana Town Council and Tullyarvan Mill as well as
the Janet Coyle School of Dancing and the Donegal
Youth Council for making the visit of our American
friends such a special occasion. It was lovely to
renew the bonds of friendship between our two
communities." |
