DUBLIN CITY HAS twinned with Ramallah in Palestine after a formal City to City Friendship Agreement was signed.

The agreement was formally signed today by Lord Mayor of Dublin Daithí de Róiste and Mayor Issa Kassis of Ramallah after being agreed to at a Dublin City Council meeting last month.

Ramallah is the fifth city that Dublin has a twinning agreement with.

The first was San Jose in the United States in 1986, followed by Liverpool in 1997, then Barcelona the following year, and Beijing in 2010.

Dublin City Council said the “signing of formal Twinning agreements facilitates the setting up of a long term, trusting relationship”.

A statement from the City Council added: “Its form and content are not fixed and may be amended depending on the specific nature of the partnership that is being set up.

“Twinning can seek to strengthen or develop common interests or express solidarity between the people of the two cities.

“There may be opportunities to work on problem solving or develop innovative solutions with partners around key challenges.”

Some possible areas of “mutual interest” between Dublin and Ramallah highlighted by the City Council include climate action and sustainable transport.

A number of visits have been made to Palestine in recent years by councillors and staff from Dublin City Council, including by former Lord Mayor Brendan Carr in 2017, by Ardmhéara Mícheál Mac Donncha in 2018 and by former Lord Mayor Alison Gilliland last year.

Speaking today, Lord Mayor of Dublin Daithí de Róiste said he “very much welcomes” the signing of the Friendship Agreement.

He added: “The cities of Dublin and Ramallah agree that both of us will work together to examine issues of common interest and to look for areas of future cooperation. 

“The aim of this Friendship Agreement is to contribute to the strengthening of friendly relations between our two cities.”