Canadian Prime Minister set for summer visit to Mayo

By Tom Gillespie

THE Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, whose roots are in Mayo, looks set to visit the county this summer.

Mr. Carney has accepted an invitation to visit Ireland later this year and the country’s Ambassador to Ireland, Mr. Dennis King, has confirmed that the visit will most likely take place some time in June.

Mr. King was grand marshal at the Easter Parade on Achill Island at the weekend where he was interviewed by Henry McGlade of TV Ireland.

He said: “I met the Achill Tourism crew at the holiday show in Dublin and they invited me to Achill and I am honoured to be here.

“My boss and Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, is a great proud Mayo man, with his family roots in Aughagower.

“Dara Calleary and Timmy Dooley were in Canada for St. Patrick’s Day and invited him to visit here. I am going to join the Taoiseach and five other ministers who are going over in April to meet the Prime Minister and we are working in getting the Prime Minister back here some time in June.

“The dates haven’t been confirmed yet but Prime Minister Carney has accepted the invitation to come to Ireland.

“He has been to Ireland many times but not in his official capacity so we are really planning and hoping that some time in June he will be here and we hope the Prime Minister will have some time in his calendar to get to see as much of Ireland as I know he wants to and of course Mayo will have to be prominent somehow in that visit.”