Happy birthday, Mr President
A SERIES OF EVENTS ARE PLANNED IN NEW ROSS TO MARK THE 1OOth ANNIVERSARY OF JOHN F KENNEDY’S BIRTH
SEVERAL events are planned in the New Ross area to mark the centenary of the birth of the late President John F Kennedy.
On May 29, the day of his birth 100 years ago, a centenary concert will take place at the John F Kennedy Memorial Park & Arboretum with the army band. There will be a flag raising ceremony and the Kennedy story will feature on a Nationwide programme that evening at 7 p.m. to celebrate the centenary of the birth of the much loved president, who was assassinated on November 22, 1963.
The Irish Film Institute will present Down Wexford Way at St Michael’s Theatre in New Ross. The programme will include amateur and professional film of President Kennedy’s visit to the county, along with a wide range of Wexford-based material dating from 1902. Footage includes early British cinema pioneers filmed on the streets of Wexford town, a rarely seen film of New Ross in 1947, a host of lively stories from the Amharc Éireann newsreels, including a Fleadh Ceoil in Gorey, the visit of General ‘Ike’ Eisenhower, and a surprise win for Wexford in the 1960 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.
The event starts at 11.30 a.m. and lasts approximately one and a half hours. Admission is free and tickets can be ordered in advance from the theatre box-office on 051-421255.
On Tuesday, June 27, a centenary concert will take plae at the Library park, Barrack Lane, New Ross and on July 4 a flag raising cereony will be held at the Emigrant Flame on the quay in New Ross where the Declaration of Independence will be read. During the summer the official opening of the newly redesigned Irish America Hall of Fame will be unveiled and the launch of the JFK50 The Homecoming DVD is planned in conjunction with Special Olympics Ireland. A concert by Helena Byrne will be held at the Dunbrody Visitor Centre in the autumn, followed by the Kennedy Summer School, which runs from September 7 to September 9. The year’s JFK ceremonies will conclude with a concert by Michael Londra called JFK & Me in Decemeber, the date and venue for which has yet to be confirmed.