Letterkenny and Rudolstadt: ‘One of the best twinnings we’ve ever done in Donegal’

The official twin town relationship between Letterkenny and Rudolstadt, Germany, has been described as “one of the best” ever done in Donegal.

Local councillors Donal Coyle, Jimmy Kavanagh and Gerry McMonagle were part of a delegation representing Letterkenny at the St Patrick’s weekend festival in Rudolstadt. The twin agreement has been in place since 2018, with cultural exchanges taking place between the two towns ever since.

Cllr Coyle represented his Fianna Fáil colleague, Cathaoirleach Ciaran Brogan, and officially opened the St Patrick’s weekend festival in Rudolstadt Town Hall.

“I think the partnership between Letterkenny and Rudolstadt that we have is very important,” he said. “I think this partnership is more important now that it ever was because of the world that we live in and the uncertainty that we’re going through, and it’s great that we are able to have this connection between Ireland and Germany, between Letterkenny and Rudolstadt.”

Sinn Féin Cllr Gerry McMonagle praised the enthusiasm of locals in Rudolstadt, who embraced Irish culture over the weekend.

“There’s fantastic people,” said Cllr McMonagle. “The local people come out all dressed up and enjoying the Irish music, enjoying the craic, so it’s probably one of the best twinnings we’ve ever done in Donegal.”

The initial partnership between the two town councils has expanded over the years. A group of students from St Eunans College were also in Rudolstadt recently as part of an exchange with local schools, and Coláiste Ailigh and Errigal College have also been involved with language exchange projects. A number of musicians representing Letterkenny also took part in festivities.

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The Letterkenny delegation visited the Schiller-Theater as part of the official itinerary and explored the possibilities of establishing ties within the arts.

“That’s something we’re going to take back with us and hopefully we can get a partnership going with An Grianán Theatre,” said Cllr McMonagle.

Schiller-Theater art director and managing director Steffen Mensching accepting a gift from Cllr Donal Coyle

Fine Gael Cllr Jimmy Kavanagh said that the twinning is “working really well” and he would like to see more involvement from businesses and an increased emphasis on tourism.

“We could be doing more to promote Donegal in this part of Germany than we do, and equally we could be promoting Germany more in Donegal,” he said.

“There’s also a university town close to here, it’s a technological university and again, I think there’s opportunities with the ATU,” added Cllr Kavanagh.

Both councillors agreed that Rudolstadt has a lot of positives and that Letterkenny, which has a similar population size, could take inspiration from the things that work well.

“What I take out of Rudolstadt is the friendliness and the welcoming nature of the people that live here,” said Cllr McMonagle. “They seem to do things, nothing is a big issue for them. They seem to be able to address any issue they might have and I think we can learn from that.”

He added that the family-friendly atmosphere in the town square in Rudolstadt is something that Letterkenny could aspire for with the reimagining of the market square.

“You never see a bit of paper in the street,” said Cllr Kavanagh. “They organise that so well and the mentality is so strong around that. You just don’t do it, you just don’t litter. Even with this big weekend, St Patrick’s celebrations, crowds of people around all weekend, you won’t see paper on the street. I noticed the very same thing during their summer festival.”

Richard Shields and Cllr Donal Coyle pointing to a vine in Rudolstadt that was planted in 2019. It is dedicated to former Letterkenny Mayor Ian McGarvey and his wife Marjorie

A delegation of 55 people from Rudolstadt will visit Letterkenny in September, a sign that the friendship between the two towns is continuing to go from strength to strength.

“It’s been excellent as usual,” said Cllr Kavanagh. “They’ve been so good to us and there was such a packed programme and we got to meet so many people. There was great music, great conversation and we’ve visited so many interesting places. These weekends have never been a disappointment. They work well and the partnership between the two towns is working really well.

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“[Rudolstadt] is an old Medieval-type town, it’s very nice. Whereas when they come to us, we have the beaches and everything beside us that’s new to them and that they love, so I do think the two places complement one another well in terms of making for very enjoyable visits.”

“It’s a bit of a journey to get here but it’s a lovely place to come to,” said Cllr McMonagle. “They have a fantastic festival at the beginning of July where they have eighteen stages and 30,000 people coming to Rudolstadt.

“I hope that we would continue to build on the partnerships and the friendships that we’ve got to date and learn from one another, take the good experiences we’ve had here and try and transfer them to Letterkenny and vice versa.”