Donegal County Council spent €14,000 on St Patrick’s Day trip to the United States

Donegal County Council spent more than €14,000 of public money on sending a delegation to the United States for St Patrick’s Day 2025.

The delegation, which visited Boston, Philadelphia and New York between 13 and 19 March, included cathaoirleach Cllr Niamh Kennedy and leas cathaoirleach Cllr Jimmy Kavanagh and their spouses, council CEO John McLaughlin and senior official Michael McGarvey.

The details were provided by the local authority in response to a freedom of information request submitted by Donegallive.

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The cost of flights for the travelling party was €7,194.30, ranging from €864.90 for Michael McGarvey who visited Philadelphia and New York over six days from 13-18 March, to €1,627 for Cllr Kavanagh who visited the same cities on the same dates.
Flights for Cllr Kennedy cost €1,014.36 while airfares for CEO John McLaughlin came in at €1,046.64.

Hotel accommodation for the delegation cost a combined €6,855.32.

CEO John McLaughlin’s hotel costs for Boston and New York (15-18 March) came in lowest at €1,254.42, while Cllr Kennedy’s spend of €2,476.35, in Boston and New York from 14-19 March, was highest. Cllr Kavanagh spent €1,586.81 on hotels, while Mr McGarvey's hotel expenditure was €1,537.84.
Train fares of €149.85 were incurred by three of the travelling party, while miscellaneous costs of €156.41 were also noted.

The council also spent €435 on gifts for presentations to Donegal associations and corporate bodies in the United States, including handmade chocolates from Mo Milseáin, scarves from Amelia's in Letterkenny and Donegal tweed pins from House No 35 in Buncrana.

Details of the delegation’s itinerary while in the United States were not provided with the freedom of information response, and the council did not publish any press releases around St Patrick’s Day regarding the trip.

A note on the council’s freedom of information response states that costs associated with the spouses who travelled were covered by themselves.

The response also notes that no claims for subsistence, travel or taxis have yet been made, meaning the stated overall cost of €14,355.88 could yet rise.