Gort - Rouillon Twinning Project - Gort, Galway, Ireland

Gort - Rouillon Twinning Project

GORT – ROUILLON TWINNING PROJECT

 

The Gort-Rouillon Twinning Project began in the summer of 2004 when Christophe Bigot of Rouillon, in Brittany, France made contact with Gort Chamber of Commerce with a view to twinning with the town of Gort.

 

Rouillon is a relatively new town with a population of 2,300.  It is ideally located at the crossroads of Normandy, Brittany and the Loire Valley and just 5 Kilometres from the ancient city of Le Mans (of the 24 hour car rally fame).  Paris is just 58 minutes away by TGV train.

 

The Gort Chamber of Commerce DVD / Video “GORT, A GREAT PLACE TO WORK, VISIT AND ABOVE ALL, A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE” was a wonderful way of introducing the area to the people of Rouillon.

 

The Twinning Committee was subsequently set up in Gort consisting of eight members initially.  The first Twinning visit took place in February 2005 when Committee members from Gort visited Rouillon.

 

Since then a total of five twinning visits have taken place between the two towns with the weekend of 13th to 16th September 2008, being the most recent visit to date, consisting of twenty eight of our friends from France visiting Gort.  On their visits to Gort, they were hosted by families in and around the town and likewise, when the Gort families visited Rouillon; they were hosted by families there.

 

It has been a wonderful experience for the Gort people to live “the French way of life” and for the French people to taste the “Irish way of life”.

 

Interest in the Twinning project is growing steadily.  Many friendships have been formed between the people of Rouillon and Gort and now the younger members of both the Irish and French families are planning visits with each other.

 

The members of the Twinning Project are always delighted when new families join.

 

Anyone who is interested in becoming involved, please feel free at any time to contact:

 

Martina Earley                       086-3750388

Olivia O’Grady                       086-8096121

Nora Connolly                        087-9074815