Courtesy Call on the Lord Mayor of Cork, Councillor Fergal Dennehy
2026/4/24
Lord Mayor of Cork, Councillor Fergal Dennehy (centre), Mr Ciarán Kelleher Byrne of Cork City Council (left), and Ambassador MIYAGAWA Manabu signing the visitor book (right)
On 24 April, Ambassador MIYAGAWA paid a courtesy call on the Lord Mayor of Cork, Councillor Fergal Dennehy, together with First Secretary Mr ISHIMOTO Akihiro and Second Secretary Ms UENO Yumiko.
The Lord Mayor has been a passionate community activist from a young age. His father, Mr John Dennehy, previously served as Lord Mayor of Cork and continues to contribute to the community today. The Lord Mayor is proud of the combined one hundred and ten years’ service to community development by his father, himself, and his late mother, Mrs Phil Dennehy, and he remains fully committed to advancing the city and its communities.
Lord Mayor Dennehy also noted that a sculpture by Mr KATAGIRI Hironori, an artist residing in Iwate Town, Iwate Prefecture, which was once exhibited in Cork, is still carefully preserved. He expressed his readiness to further deepen exchanges between Cork and Japan, including with Iwate Town.
Ambassador MIYAGAWA expressed his respect for the Dennehy family’s contribution to the development of Cork. He also mentioned that he had heard about Mr Katagiri’s sculpture from Mr SASAKI Koji, Mayor of Iwate Town, during his visit to Ireland in February this year. Looking ahead to the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Ireland in 2027, the Ambassador said that a joint logo for the occasion will soon be open for public submissions, and expressed his wish to further strengthen exchanges with Cork in various fields, including cultural cooperation.
The Lord Mayor has been a passionate community activist from a young age. His father, Mr John Dennehy, previously served as Lord Mayor of Cork and continues to contribute to the community today. The Lord Mayor is proud of the combined one hundred and ten years’ service to community development by his father, himself, and his late mother, Mrs Phil Dennehy, and he remains fully committed to advancing the city and its communities.
Lord Mayor Dennehy also noted that a sculpture by Mr KATAGIRI Hironori, an artist residing in Iwate Town, Iwate Prefecture, which was once exhibited in Cork, is still carefully preserved. He expressed his readiness to further deepen exchanges between Cork and Japan, including with Iwate Town.
Ambassador MIYAGAWA expressed his respect for the Dennehy family’s contribution to the development of Cork. He also mentioned that he had heard about Mr Katagiri’s sculpture from Mr SASAKI Koji, Mayor of Iwate Town, during his visit to Ireland in February this year. Looking ahead to the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Ireland in 2027, the Ambassador said that a joint logo for the occasion will soon be open for public submissions, and expressed his wish to further strengthen exchanges with Cork in various fields, including cultural cooperation.