The former Mayor of the City and County of Limerick Cllr Kieran O’Hanlon has been selected as this year’s 'Gael of the Year' from the Queen’s County St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Culture Committee, Queens County, New York.
Cllr O’Hanlon has been chosen for his continuing strong promotion of Irish culture in the United States and his strong support of business and education linkages between New York and Limerick.
Speaking after being informed of the award, Cllr Kieran O’Hanlon said: “I’m honoured and delighted to have been chosen as 'Gael of the Year' by the committee. I first went over to New York for the Queens County Parade in Rockaway Beach as Mayor of Limerick in 1997. Since then I have remained in contact with the committee forging links with the Irish community and further afield, helping to build on the foundations across the sectors of culture, education, sport and business.”
“Being installed as ‘Gael of the Year’ is genuinely a great opportunity to promote Limerick, there are many people with Limerick ancestry in the Irish community over in Queens and this accolade will allow me to promote Limerick as a place to invest in. There are so many investment opportunities in Limerick that I will be speaking to many of the business leaders about investment options.”
Queens County has strong links with Limerick City and County Council and the old Limerick City Council.
Cllr O’Hanlon will be installed as ‘Gael of the Year’ at the annual Queens County Gala Ball on Saturday 09 February 2019 in Queens, New York.