May 1, 2014
The growing ties between the cities of Boston and Belfast in Northern Ireland will be affirmed later this month when the mayors of the two municipalities are expected to sign a “Sister City” agreement.
Belfast’s Sinn Fein mayor, Mairtin O Muilleoir, reached an agreement with Mayor Martin Walsh during a visit to Boston in March, according to a report in the Belfast Telegraph.
“The sister city agreement will explore academic, business, and cultural links between the two cities,” the Telegraph reported. “Boston is the university capital of the world, the Silicon Valley of life sciences, and the hub of Irish America,” O Muilleoir told the newspaper.
A source in Walsh’s office, who confirmed plans for the agreement to the BIR, said the papers are expected to be signed before O Muilleoir’s term as Belfast mayor expires in early June.