New French ambassador chose Limerick as her first stop on tour to the west

THE NEW French Ambassador to Ireland chose Limerick city for her first official trip to the west of the country.

Her Excellency Ms Céline Place began her day-long visit to Limerick with a meeting with the Irish Aid division of the Department of Foreign Affairs on Henry Street.

This was followed by a visit to Alliance Française Limerick, the oldest branch of Alliance Française in Ireland. This organisation promotes the French language and culture and offers courses for people to learn the language.

At this meeting with Alliance Française Limerick on Tuesday, November 5, Ambassador Place met with the directors, teachers and students of the not-for-profit organisation, which was founded in Limerick in 1944. 

The Ambassador also met with “les Enfants francophones”, an association providing French classes and other activities to French-speaking children in Limerick and Ennis.

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The Hospitality Campus of the Limerick-Clare Education and Training Board (ETB) was also a stop on her tour of Limerick, with an annual lunch prepared and served by the campus students to mark the end of their two-year training. 

“I was really impressed by the skills displayed by all the trainees and the dedication of their teachers. The 8-course menu was top-class and both the cooking and waiting students showed a savoir-faire that augurs really well of their future careers,”  Ambassador Place said.

After a meeting with Michelle Gallagher, the new CEO of the Limerick Chamber and some of chamber's board members who provided her with an overview of Limerick's economic assets, Ambassador Place headed to the City Hall where she was welcomed by Mayor John Moran and his team. 

The Mayor and the Ambassador discussed the many links, past and present, between Limerick and France as well as forthcoming projects, including the €60m project of French company, Neoen, who are building a solar farm in Ballinknockane, Co. Limerick.

The day ended with a special reception in Istabraq Hall, attended by members of the French community during which Dr Liam Chambers or Mary Immaculate College (MIC), Dr Michael Kelly of University of Limerick (UL) and Ms Eileen O'Connor, former president of Alliance Française Limerick. 

They were presented with the insignia of Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes académiques, a French government award honouring exceptional achievements in the field of education, by Ambassador Place.