A Flying Visit

Deputy Lord Mayor’s Blog 43
On Monday I accompanied Rotarians from Birmingham on a visit to Dublin to mark the centenary of the Dublin club. The agenda included a reception by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Gerry Breen, at the Mansion House.

I brought civic greetings and the gift of a picture from the City of Birmingham. We were very warmly received indeed and the occasion was full of good humour. Our photograph shows the group on the steps of the Mansion House.
We were given a tour in which we saw the room – the Oak Room – in which Irish statesman Dr Garrett Fitzgerald had lain in state prior to his state funeral on Sunday.
Our visit also coincided with that of US President Obama and as a result we had the opportunity to do a good deal of walking from on venue to another with Dublin Rotarian colleagues and had an exceptional chance to see the architecture of the city at close range due to the street closures and resulting traffic chaos!
It was however very interesting to pick up on the excitement that surrounded the presidential visit. This followed on from the more extensive visit of Her Majesty the Queen that had been such a tremendous success and which done so much good – a view reiterated not only officially but also by dozens of ordinary citizens that we met.
On the way home we had to contend with airport disruption at both ends, high winds and the possible threat from the volcanic ash cloud. All in all a memorable way to conclude my term as Deputy Lord Mayor of Birmingham!