‘What has come out of it?’ - Row erupts over Laois Council trips to Tennessee

Cllr Aisling Moran questioned whether money might be better spent elsewhere

Published 3rd Jul 2026, 21:55 BST Laois County Council delegates in Franklin, Tennessee this May. Photo: Laois County Council. Cllr Aisling Moran questioned whether money might be better spent elsewhere Sign up to our Laois Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Laois Live within your account.

A local councillor has questioned the benefits of Laois ’ Sister Cities partnership with Franklin, Tennessee.

Laois has been twinned with Franklin, Tennessee since 2008 and just a few weeks ago a delegation from Laois County Council visited Franklin where “representatives explored opportunities to strengthen economic links between Tennessee and Ireland,” according to the Council.

Representatives from the Laois delegation included Chief Executive of Laois County Council Mr Michael Rainey, the now former Cathaoirleach Cllr Barry Walsh and Cllr James Kelly.

At the June meeting of Laois County Council, Cllr Aisling Moran questioned “what has come out of it?”

A member of the Sister Cities committee, Cllr Moran said she has consistently brought up potential new twinning partners for the county given what she deems to be a lack of advantages from the existing partnership with Franklin.

“When you twin somewhere, you open opportunities for students, colleges, secondary schools doing exchanges, businesses and sport. We’re not getting that with Franklin at all. We’ve done a number of trips over the years, which is great, but we need to look at somewhere else,” the Independent councillor argued.

The Chair of the Sister Cities committee, Cllr Paddy Buggy , insisted that there was great progress made on the recent trip over to the US.

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“We enhanced our ties with the fire service so there will be an exchange of officers coming to train and bring ideas and new methods of doing things to us. We’ve had great contact with agricultural colleges and there will be an exchange of agricultural students coming to Laois and going out to Tennessee through the agricultural colleges.

“On the soccer front, a bit like the American football teams that come over to Dublin every year, the soccer side is working towards that as well. We will see tourism benefits there,” Cllr Buggy said.

The Portlaoise councillor suggested that “concrete” options be presented to the committee by Cllr Moran in regards to other potential cities to twin with.

However, Cllr Moran said that she has brought it up numerous times with the committee but was told that the committee was just set up for the Franklin partnership.

“There are no real benefits from it. After 20 years, you’re telling me we are going to have a relationship with the fire service and maybe soccer. Do you not think we could be doing something better with that money?” Cllr Moran said.

Cllr Barry Walsh, who was one of the attendees on the recent trip to Franklin, emphasised the importance of the relationship between Laois and Franklin and stated “it’s not a waste of time.”

Cllr Walsh said that it was a very productive trip, with Laois delegates networking with businesses and organisations in Franklin which could present opportunities for the county in the future.