1 December 2015
By Bryan T. Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
The Mayor of the County of Cork Cllr. John Paul O’ Shea who this week leads a delegation from Cork to Boston to help foster Business, Culture & Tourism links will receive a donation of $7,500 on behalf of the three secondary schools in Mallow.
Cork County Mayor Cllr John Paul O’Shea (Ind)
Davis College, The Patrician Academy & St. Mary’s Secondary School are to receive a donation of $2,500 each from the Irish American Partnership, an organisation founded in Ireland to organize Irish American support on behalf of job creation, education, and economic development in Ireland.
The Irish American Partnership works to empower the next generation of Irish leaders by supporting educational initiatives through direct grants to schools, science teacher training, university access scholarships, employment learning programs, and much more. The Partnership provides forums for visiting leaders from Ireland to speak in the U.S., connecting Irish-Americans with their heritage and promoting economic development through tourism, trade, and mutual exchanges.
Commenting on the donation, Mayor’ O’ Shea said “This is an extreme kind gesture from the Directors of the Irish American Partnership, something in which I am very proud and honoured to receive on the school’s behalf. Schools are forever seeking funds for integrating technology into the classroom or purchasing science materials. This donation will go a long way in progressing many initiatives each school has. I want to pay a particular thanks to the family of the late Tip O’ Neill, who has arranged this donation and re-affirms yet again the close connection the O’ Neill Family & the Irish American Partnership has with Mallow and County Cork”.
The Irish American Partnership previously donated $2,000 in 2014 to Mallow Development Partnership for their work in the annual Maths & Science Fair.
Since two of Ireland’s largest educational priorities are development of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) subjects and improvements in literacy, the Irish American Partnership provides small grants of $1,500-$2,500 directly to schools to help them buy science materials and build their libraries.
Mayor O’ Shea concluded “These funds go an incredibly long way in our schools and on the schools behalf, I want to thank all involved in the Irish American Partnership for their kind donation here today and I can assure you, it will be well utilised within the school system in 2016”.
