A blossoming relationship between Tuam and a town in Germany is set to be taken a step further and could result in a significant economic boost for both locations if a recent visit is anything to go by.

A delegation from Tuam led by Cllr Ollie Turner (FG) travelled to the Bavarian town of Straubing, with which Tuam has been twinned for the past 40 years. The visit was to mark the anniversary of this momentous occasion.

The visit was part of an annual invitation to Tuam Municipal Council and the Twinning Committee to attend the Partnerschaft Tag as part of the German town’s ‘Gäubodenvolksfest’ celebrations, and shows that both at political and community level that the twinning is still recognised and celebrated.

The twinning came about when German national and Tuam resident Willi Kiefel invited a group of students from the Bavarian town to start an exchange programme which has lasted to this day.

Cllr Turner, in his role as Leas-Cathaoirleach of Galway County Council, was joined on the trip by his wife Therese and regular visitors to Straubing, Richard and Jean Browne and John Fahey.

The Tuam delegation met with Straubing officials, including Mayor Markus Pannermayr, at a packed Theatre Am Hagen during the annual ‘Gaubodensvolkfest’, a festival which attracts over 1.3 million visitors to the town.

Cllr Turner addressed the local assembly in German, much to the delight of the Straubing officials, and spoke of the importance of maintaining the good work undertaken by previous Twinning Committees.

But he informed a meeting of the Tuam area council that it was his intention to invite “a significant” delegation from Straubing to Tuam and organise a programme of events and believes that it would be a huge boost for the town from a number of perspectives.

“It is a testament to the strength of the relationships built between the two towns over those 40 years that the Tuam-Straubing Twinning has not only survived but prospered,” Councillor Turner told the audience in Straubing.

“The key to this survival is the continuation of exchange visits by our young people. We must ensure our student cultural exchange visits continue and that our youth see the value in experiencing life in a different country with a different language.

“I was lucky to have had a very good German teacher in secondary school, Anna Von Conrady, and she gave me a love of the language that has endured for many years,” he continued.

At the end of the ceremony, the Tuam delegation joined Ollie Turner on stage, where he presented Mayor Pannermayr with a Gaelic Football and Galway GAA jersey, an acknowledgement of the strong tradition of Gaelic Games in Tuam and North Galway.

The next visit to Tuam from Straubing will be a group of 20 German students and teachers in October, while this week’s meeting of the Tuam Municipal Authority members reviewed the visit to Germany and discussed a motion by Cllr Turner to organise a return visit next year.

“”It is over 30 years since the Mayor of Straubing visited Tuam and I know Markus Pannermayr has expressed a desire to come next year, so we should formally contact his office to invite a delegation from the town next year”, he said. The meeting agreed to the request and to the organisation of a 4-day schedule of events, funded by the Council, next summer.

Pictured: Councillor Ollie Turner, Leas-Cathaoirleach of Galway County Council, presented a Galway GAA jersey to Mayor of Straubing Markus Pannermayr during the visit of the Tuam local electoral area and Twinning delegation to the German town.