The Alternative Press

FANWOOD, NJ – While St. Patrick’s Day has not yet arrived, the festivities began on Thursday afternoon at Oh Brian’s Pourhouse in Fanwood.  Brian Walter, and his new partner Brian Costello, celebrated their “re-opening” with a ribbon cutting attended by not only the Mayor of Fanwood, Colleen Mahr, but also the Mayor of Shannon, Ireland, the Honorable Mike Fleming.

Mayor Fleming was invited by the Union Country St. Patrick’s Day Committee to come and participate in the festivities in New Jersey, continuing a tradition that began in 1997.  A carpenter by trade, he is serving out the fourth year of his five year term as Mayor. He was accompanied by Liam O’Connor, the town clerk of Shannon, who summed up the situation by saying that is was “Brilliant!”

Jay Rice, a member of the Union Country St. Patrick’s Day Committee and also a member of the Emerald Society, was instrumental in asking the Mayor to attend the ribbon cutting in Fanwood.

“It is a grand opportunity to be here to help cut the ribbon,” said Mayor Fleming.  He was looking forward to the Union Country Parade on Saturday and going to New York City on Sunday.

Mayor Mahr assisted with the ribbon cutting, wishing the new partners of Oh Brian’s “good luck and good wishes.”  She then presented Mayor Fleming with a key to the city, and with a laugh, told him that it also “doubled as a bottle opener.”  She thanked him for attending and told him that he “always had a home, a place and friends in Fanwood, New Jersey.”