Hundreds of people from every town in Ireland, including a group from Carlow, are heading to Athlone this weekend for a unique kind of reunion.
The reunion, organised by an ex-New Yorker ex-pat, is being held for the young Irish who lived in America but have returned to live in Ireland.
The event, which has already seen practically all the bed and breakfasts in the county Westmeath town booked out, is expected to see a four to five hundred strong crowd attend.
“This is about people who once were friends in a different country, or are finding it hard to settle in Ireland, or those getting on great and looking to help others to get together and have a good time,” said organiser Tom Woodlock, who hails from Borris in Ossory but lived in New York’s Bronx neighbourhood for seven years.
Tom, who returned to Ireland earlier this year, said organising something like this is a way for people from all over Ireland who had experiences different to those that stayed in Ireland to reconnect with people who have similar stories to share.
“The plan is to hold it in a different town in Ireland every year,” he said.
“We all live in different parts of the country and it’s not easy to meet up, it will just be nice to share old stories of America and to reflect on the good times we all had there.”
Tom hopes that everyone who lived in the States but now makes Ireland their home will go and thus establish a network of Irish people with a unique skill set brought about as a result of their travels.
It’s also a good chance for people who were forced to move back to Ireland to find others who might be able to help them to figure out their future.
Many were forced to return to Ireland when news of a deal for a legal visa never came through and regulations for working in the US without a green card became too tight.
Others were removed from the US because of paperwork and still more came back to Ireland because the economy offered more for them at the time.
The reunion in the Shamrock Hotel in Athlone begins at 7pm with a buffet and dancing is promised into the late hours.
“Maybe we won’t attract everyone this year but it’s a start,” he said.
The cost of entry is €18 a head. Call Tom on 087-0545644 for more information.
