Ireland’s head of government, Prime Minister Enda Kenny, will oversee St. Patrick’s Day festivities in Atlanta this year, serving as the grand marshal of the March 14 parade and speaking to an audience of the Irish Chamber of Atlanta.
“The Irish Prime Minister is the most popular man in the world on St Patrick’s Day. Out of the tens of thousands of St Patrick’s Day Parades around the world, we’re absolutely delighted, and extremely honored, that Enda Kenny has chosen to come to Atlanta to be Grand Marshal of the 133rd St. Patrick’s Day Parade,” said Dave Fitzgerald, chairman of the Atlanta parade.
Mr. Kenny, whose office is known in Irish language as the Taoieach, will also meet with Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed in an attempt to shore up business ties and educational exchanges, according to Consul General Paul Gleeson.
“The fact that the Taoiseach is visiting Atlanta at the busiest time of the year for the Irish Government shows the priority and value the Government attaches to our transatlantic relationship,” Mr. Gleeson said in a release.
The prime minister will be accompanied on this visit by Ambassador Anne Anderson, who visited Atlanta last May and gave a wide-ranging speech in which she discussed the need for immigration reform in the U.S. The last visit by an Irish prime minister came in 2010, when Brian Cowen announced that the country would open a consulate in Atlanta, its first in the the U.S. since the 1930s.
But as recently as three days ago, Atlanta was on the mind of Mr. Kenny when he issued a statement of his condolences to the family of former Coca-Cola Co. President Don Keough, who died Tuesday morning.
To learn more about the Irish Chamber of Atlanta breakfast event with the prime minister or to buy tickets, click here.
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