[caption id="attachment_67822" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Councilor Noel McBride."]
Our Donegal County Strategy has defined the community of Donegal as being made up of not only those who live in the county itself, but also including all others with a connection to, or interest in, the county, no matter where in the world they might be living.
For this reason we are actively engaged in establishing firm links with our Donegal diaspora and with others who have an interest in Donegal and Ireland.
In this context we have been delighted to be partners in the Golden Bridges initiative for the past three years. We see the existing and emerging links between the North West of Ireland and Massachusetts as being of vital importance to our county and we are actively engaging with a range of partners to identify and advance actions which will be of mutual benefit.
Our County Strategy has identified key sectors which we are seeking to develop in our county. These sectors are enterprise and skills
development, tourism, renewable energies, culture and creative industries, and the development of a Donegal brand. Our county has
much to offer in terms of our natural and human resources and we are keen to ensure that we gain optimum benefit from these resources for
the benefit of our whole community.
We are ideally placed, for example, with regard to the development of onshore and offshore renewable energies. We are blessed with scenic beauty and are actively developing flagship tourism projects at locations such as Sliabh Liag (the highest sea cliffs in Europe) and Malin Head (Ireland's most northerly point).
We are developing a strategy with the aim of branding Donegal as a "Creative County" and we will be building on our wealth of culture and creative ability to advance projects for economic benefit in this field.
2012 will see our hosting of the first "Donegal Gathering" through which we are inviting friends from all parts of the world to join us at a range of cultural and other events which are being organized to take place in all parts of our county.
I am glad to be participating in the 2011 Golden Bridges Awards and Showcase. We have a strong Donegal community in the Greater Boston area made up of long established residents and also of more recent arrivals. These people continue to form a very important part of our Donegal community.
I am glad to say that we have also gained many new friends in Boston and the surrounding areas and we look forward to working closely with these friends and partners on a range of sectors of mutual interest over the coming years.
I wish to commend the Irish Echo for its efforts in organizing the Golden Bridges initiative which has enabled ourselves in Donegal and our neighbors in Derry to develop links and networks in the Greater Boston area. We look forward to a continued association with this initiative and with the Irish Echo.
Tá áthas orm mar Méara Dhún na nGall a bheith páirteach ins an ócáid seo i mbliana agus tá muid ag súil lenár gceangailtí anseo i mBoston a láidriú agus a leathnú san am amach romhainn. Guím gach rath ar an tosáiocht tábhactach seo agus tá mé ag súil le leanacht lenár bpáirtnéireacht faoi scáth Golden Bridges sna blianta amach romhainn.
Councilor Noel McBride is Mayor of County Donegal.
