NAAS, 17 August 2002: by Brian Byrne. Organisations and businesses in Mid-Kildare and Naas came up with support to an estimated value of up to 10,000 euros for the recent hosting of the Omaha twinning delegation to Naas.
They included free entry and conducted tours of County Kildare tourism attractions like Peatland World (above), as well as meals and entertainment and individual donations of goods and services.
“The town came out in a big way,” says Naas mayor Timmy Conway, who instigated the twinning process during a private visit to the Nebraska city last year. Omaha hosted an Irish delegation headed by then Naas mayor Willy Callaghan for the St Patrick’s Day festivities last March.
The 65-strong return delegation of Omahans were treated to lunch at Robertstown’s Grand Canal Hotel on the day of their arrival, and in the afternoon were brought around Peatland World and took part in a turf-cutting exercise. The cost of the lunches and combined visits would normally be in the order of 1,500 euros.
“Everything was given free,” a clearly pleased Mayor Conway told KNN. “There was no cost at all there.”
Newbridge Dog Track and Naas Racecourse would have waived an estimated 1,300 euros worth of entrance fees if the full visiting group took advantage of their invitations to events on the Friday night and Monday afternoon, and the race course also provided its facilities free for the official signing dinner on the Saturday night, the cost of which should show little change out of 2,000 euros.
“Naas Town Council hosted the dinner,” Mayor Conway said, and noted that bouquets of flowers presented to ladies at the signing ceremony (below) and at the Sunday night concert were donated by Naas florist Brian Brett.
The normal 1,000 euros rental cost of the room for the concert in Killashee House Hotel was also waived, as were the fees of Mongey Communications who provided the sound system for the evening. All the local artistes who performed under the direction of Mona Conroy also gave their services free. An estimate of value of 2,500 euros for the whole evening’s entertainment, which also included presentations by the Naas Set Dancers, would not be unreasonable.
Lunch on the Monday at the Naas Town House Hotel, for delegation members and the Naas host families, was subsidised to the extent of 700 euros by the Naas Twinning Committee.
Other contributions of time and expertise were made by local historian Paddy Behan, who escorted the group on tours of Robertstown, Peatland World and Naas itself. Naas Rugby Club made its premises available for a Sunday lunch, for which Cappoquin Chickens and QK Cold Stores provided the food and the catering was carried out by Pauline Culliton. Members of the Wolfe Tones also played free at an Irish Night on the night before the delegation left.
Gifts of pictures to members of the Naas delegation - a signed picture of the former Leinster Champions Kildare GAA team (above) and a painting by Ray Ryan - came from Mayor Conway’s private collection.
“The primary members of the community who must be thanked are the host families, who took in members of the Omaha delegation,” he emphasised this week. “We had about 10 families who opened their homes to the Omahans. Some of them took in as many as five people.”
Naas may be a smaller town than Omaha, but the hospitality of the people of Naas is certainly 'as large as the city of Omaha', Larry Uebner, chairman of the Omaha Sister Cities Association, told KNN after he returned to Nebraska.
"I would have to say that the relaxed personality of the Irish made the Omahans feel as if they were at home with friends," he said. "We will remember the sites we visited, but the grandest memories will be about the friends we met and the good times we had during dinner conversations and the 'after party' parties."
