A TOWN mayor has visited one of Kendal's twin towns to 'revitalise' their connection.

Kendal has had a twinning arrangement with Killarney for almost 20 years, but the 'dormant' link was 'revitalised' last weekend when the Mayor, Cllr Julia Dunlop was invited for the St Patrick’s Day weekend.

Whilst there, she met Killarney’s Mayor, Niall Kelleher and members of their twin town organisation. She was invited to sign the visitors’ book along with dignitaries from Pleinfeld, Germany and Casperia, Italy – two of Killarney’s other twin towns. She then watched the St Patrick’s Day parade and attended a Reception.

The Irish hosts acknowledged the help and advice they would receive in the past from Kendal Mountain Festival leading to them setting up their own Wander Wild Festival.

At the request of the Rotary Club of Kendal, Cllr Dunlop met Barry Murphy, President of Killarney Rotary, to help develop a link between the two organisations.

The Mayor also found time to do Killarney House Parkrun, her 195th event.

Following the trip, Cllr Dunlop said: “We received a very warm welcome and it was a great opportunity to promote civic, cultural, sporting and business links between our two towns.”

Sean Counihan, former Mayor of Killarney and Chair of Twinning said: “I’m pleased to welcome our visitors from Kendal, let’s see how we can progress this revival of our twinning arrangements.”

Representatives from Killarney will be invited to Kendal later in the year to mark the 20th anniversary of the twinning link.