22 August 2018
By Bryan Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
Cork County Mayor Patrick Gerard Murphy today officially welcomed three bright young students from Jiangsu Province, China to Cork County Hall. The three high school students from Nanjing the capital city of Jiangsu province are this year’s recipients of the Shamrock Cup, an annual English language competition prize supported by Cork County Council since 2013. The coveted prize, an all expenses paid week-long cultural excursion to Dublin and Cork, takes the students and their teacher on a whistle-stop tour of all the cultural gems in Dublin including the Book of Kells and The Natural History Museum before arriving Leeside yesterday afternoon to discover the wonders of Cork. Taking a short walking tour of the City the students explored the English Market, Grand Parade, St Patricks Street and Oliver Plunkett Street.
During today’s visit the three students had the opportunity to meet the County Mayor, enjoy some lunch and tour County Hall.
The inter-school Shamrock Cup English language competition was held in April in Nanjing province where competing teams of school children gave ten-minute presentations on Cork to a panel of judges. As well as the Shamrock Cup prize Cork County Council also sponsor awards for the most creative presentation, the best English and other categories.
Cork County Council is proud to support the Shamrock cup as the competition helps to further friendly exchanges and cooperation between Jiangsu Province and County Cork while raising awareness and promoting a positive image of Cork, and Irish Culture and Heritage in general, to Shanghai high school students.
Cork County Council established a Partnership Agreement with Jiangsu in November 2017 and is currently organising a trade delegation to Jiangsu later this year, deepening both the cultural and economic links that have been cultivated between Cork and Jiangsu province in recent years.
