Norwegian Ambassador to Ireland visits Athy

We welcomed the newly appointed Norwegian Ambassador to Ireland on a day long visit to the Shackleton Museum and Athy last Tuesday. Her Excellency, Miss Mari Skåre, was appointed just over 18 months ago. She had previously been the Norwegian Ambassador to Afghanistan and her most recent appointment was as Chef de Cabinet to the President of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly where she oversaw the recent elections of Ireland to the Security Council. Athy and particularly the Shackleton Museum has had a long and fruitful association with the Norwegian Embassy extending over the last 15 years. Ambassador Skåre is now the 5th Ambassador to visit the Museum and like her predecessors was anxious to learn more about the town and its history. She began her visit at the Clanard Court Hotel where she met representatives of the National Ploughing Association. Coming from a country which prides itself on the support and assistance which it affords its agricultural sector, the Ambassador was anxious to learn more about the National Ploughing Championships which returns to Raheeniska in September 2022. She met two of the driving forces behind the event, Anna May McHugh and her daughter Ann Marie. The meeting was hosted in the Fennin family run Clanard Court Hotel and the Ambassador was particularly appreciative of the warm welcome she received there. The Ambassador next called to the Shackleton Museum which over the last decade and a half has fostered an enduring and growing relationship with the Fram Polar Museum in Oslo. The Ambassador had an opportunity to enjoy the exhibits in the Museum and also met with two pupils from Ardscoil na Tríonóide accompanied by their teacher, Mr. Paul Quinn, who outlined Shackleton related research which some of the schools pupils will be embarking upon shortly. The Ambassador was then treated to a presentation on the Museum redevelopment plans which will incorporate the ship’s cabin from RYS Quest. This is the ship’s cabin in which Shackleton died on 5th January 1922 and will form an important part of the Polar displays in the revamped and redesigned museum which is expected will open towards the end of 2023. The Ambassador was treated to lunch in O’Briens pub and grocery where she was intrigued to find that the O’Brien family have been running their Irish traditional grocery and pub business since the late 1870s. The Ambassador’s trip to Athy concluded with a visit to the Athy library, followed by a tour of the Boormalt malting facilities, better known locally as Minch Malting. Due to pressure of work I was unable to meet the Ambassador until the library visit where she was hugely impressed by what is a superb example of modern Irish architecture. The visit to Boormalt provided a remarkable insight into the present day malt manufacturing process. Athy now has one of the leading malt manufacturing plants anywhere in the world and is in fact the malting capital of Ireland, a role which has evolved since the founding of the Minch malting works in 1847. 2022 marks not only the centenary of the death of Shackleton, but also marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Roald Amundsen, the great Norwegian polar explorer who enjoyed a relationship of mutual respect and admiration with Shackleton. Athy’s Shackleton Museum and the Fram Museum in Oslo are planning a number of related events to commemorate these two anniversaries which will include lectures in Oslo and Athy. The joint publication of a book of commemorative essays and other planned events are yet to be finalised. On a day in which war broke out in Ukraine the Ambassador reflected on the importance of fostering good relationships between the countries on this globe and regarded the ongoing cooperation between the museums in both Oslo and Athy as an indication of the positive outcomes that can develop from such relationships.