23 July 2003: A group of 37 residents of Leixlip's twin town in France, Bressuire, spent a weekend in the North Kildare town at the invitation of the Leixlip Twinning Association.
Twenty-one local families hosted the visitors who ranged in age from 14 to over 60. They had a welcoming reception at Confey GAA Club, visited Castletown House in Celbridge and the Japanese Gardens and National Stud.
A late Bastille Day Party at Barnhall Rugby Club featured Donal Fallon and friends provided the entertainment later in the evening and there was no shortage of Irish and French singers to keep the party going into the early hours.
They left on Tuesday morning for the remainder of a holiday to Galway, Kerry and Cork.
A group of Leixlip people travelled to Bressuire at the end of June for the local Celtic Festival. Twenty-seven of them were members of the Gael agus Gall Group, lead by John Nicholl of Ryevale Lawns. They performed re-enactments of daily Viking and early Irish life and mock battles. Donal Fallon’s four man traditional Irish group also performed.
