THE first ever Citizenship Ceremony to be held in Waterford city will form part of the 2014 Tricolour Festival which takes place over the weekend of March 7 – 9.
Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, Alan Shatter has accepted an invitation to attend the ceremony, which will take place in the Large Room, City Hall on Friday March 7.
The Minister said, “Shortly after coming into office in 2011 I introduced the Citizenship Ceremonies in order to mark the importance of receiving Irish citizenship with a sense of occasion and appropriate dignity. The national flag forms an integral part of the ceremony and I am very much looking forward to officiating at Waterford city’s first Citizenship Ceremony as part of the 1848 Tricolour Festival.”
James Doherty, Chair of the 1848 Tricolour Committee commented, “On behalf of the hard working voluntary committee I am delighted that Minister Alan Shatter has accepted our invitation to hold a Citizenship Ceremony on March 7. This date marks the 166th anniversary of the raising of the first ever Irish Tricolour and it is very fitting that these new citizens to Ireland will be taking an oath of allegiance to the Irish State literally on the spot where the Waterford born Thomas Francis Meagher raised the first ever Tricolour. It is certainly very exciting both for the participants and Waterford city.”
Mr Doherty continued, “Naturally, there have been an awful lot of people and stakeholders involved in putting the festival together and I would like to acknowledge the input from Waterford City Council, and thank the Department of Justice and Equality, An Garda S’och‡na, the Omagh and Waterford Peace Choir, Waterford City Enterprise Board, the Naval Reserve, Civil Defence, the local bands and a number of other individuals who wish to remain anonymous. Without the continued help of these groups and individuals the event could not happen.”
The 2014 Tricolour programme has grown over the past number of years and the 2014 event will be the biggest festival to date. The programme also includes: a networking brunch, followed by a gala dinner with guest speakers at 7pm in The Granville Hotel on Saturday March 8 and on Sunday, March 9 the Tricolour flag raising ceremony will take place at the Mall with a Guard of Honour from the Omagh and Waterford Peace Choir and Naval Parade.
The 1848 Tricolour Committee is a voluntary group made up of James Doherty, Michael Garland, Eddie Mulligan, Ann Cusack, Paul Dower, Janet Carey, Jessica Flynn, Jonathan Brazil, John Wells and Mags Durand.
