Dutch ambassador takes time out to meet and greet the people of Kilkenny

The Dutch Ambassador paid a flying visit to Kilkenny and praised recent developments in the business sector and also spoke of the ongoing local and national challenges with public representatives.

The ambassador, Adriann Palm had a busy schedule during his visit to the Marble City and met with public representatives as well as members of Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce and Kilkenny County Council.

“I had productive meetings with Minister Michael Noonan and TD’s Kathleen Funchion and John Paul Phelan on both national and local challenges including housing, the cost of living, the environment/sustainability and farming and where we can strengthen Dutch-Irish cooperation.

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“Those local challenges I subsequently discussed with both the Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce and the Kilkenny County Council. Citizens in both Ireland and the Netherlands are confronted with challenges like housing and climate change, and we should look to see where we can learn from each other. My only regret is that I didn’t have more time for this visit and see more of the diversity both the city and the county have to offer. But alas, that’s another reason to come back.

“I’ve seen some great changes since my last visit to Kilkenny pre-Covid, and I hope that at my next visit, the city and county will have it made even more attractive for citizens to use public transport and active travel.

“I have also been impressed by the developments in the business sector in County Kilkenny. In Dublin, we often talk about the need or desire to diversify the economic basis. We’re already seeing that happen in Kilkenny, with numerous new investments taking place. And part of that is Dutch, like the joint venture between Tirlán and Royal A-ware, the largest dairy investment in Irish history. But it’s also local entrepreneurs who are creating positive news and putting smiles on people’s faces, like the Dutch master florist Lamber de Bie.”

“At the Embassy, we not only focus on business and trade, but also on European cooperation. And it was a great pleasure for me to speak at the opening of the Leinster regional meeting of the European Youth Parliament in the Loreto Secondary School in Kilkenny. It was great to see so many young people actively engaged and debate how we can together work on European and national solutions for the problems we as citizens encounter,” he added.

One hundred young people from all across Europe, the majority coming from Kilkenny and Leinster attended the event.
On Saturday morning the European Youth Parliament held the opening ceremony for the session. The Lord Mayor of Kilkenny, David Fitzgerald, and the Dutch Ambassador to Ireland attended at the Loreto Secondary School, along with our delegates and officials.

On Sunday, the General Assembly took place, which consists of a Parliamentary Debate which will have young people discussing their resolutions on topical subjects such as unemployment, disability, housing and energy availability.
This is the first Leinster Regional Session outside of Dublin since 2015, and we have officials travelling from Cyprus, Finland, Sweden, Portugal and many other countries. This is EYP’s first event in Kilkenny, and the first EYP event of this size to have international delegates.

James Bradshaw from Westcourt in Callan who was recently appointed as Politics & Europe Officer at the Embassy of the Netherlands in Ireland was also in attendance the Kilkenny visit.