I am sure the residents of Louisville and their mayor are also unaware of how little input the people of Bushmills have had in this process.

No community group representing the people of Bushmills were consulted about this twinning nor did any resident of the village have a say or input into the twinning.

It seems that this event was organised by and for the good of Diageo, who decided that Bushmills should be twinned, in this the 400th year of the first licensed still, for the benefit of Diageo and not the Bushmills community or its heritage.

Have you ever heard of a twinning where one of the participants had no voice or say in the process, where over 55,000 voted on one side of the Atlantic and none were allowed to vote this side of the Atlantic?

We can only conclude from this that the twinning must be only to the Distillery buildings and not the wider community and heritage of Bushmills, as residents here played no part at all.

Everything happened in the States, including the voting, the video (reminiscent of the Two Tribes video by Frankie Goes To Hollywood), the chat show interviews and, of course, the media hype and glitz.

Informed

Bushmills residents did not get a chance to vote or even have the courtesy of being locally informed by Diageo about this event and its outcome.

Promises by Diageo of what is intended by this twinning means nothing to a community who were excluded from the process.

The corporate twinning of Bushmills by Diageo without participation from the residents is not only disrespectful but it is an insult to the Bushmills community whose roots go back to and far beyond the foundation of the first 'licensed' still in 1608. And indeed beyond the recent takeover of the distillery by Diageo.

Maybe celebrating the 400th year of the licensed still by Diageo should have started at home where it all began, by involving the community in deciding its twinning and celebratory options, as in reality the distillery and its product was built on the labour of this community long before Diageo came into being.

How many twins can one village have, and who gave Diageo the right to represent the people of Bushmills in a twinning? Already we are twinned with Covington, Georgia by Moyle District Council. Why not develop this twin, or indeed the other twin in Ballinasloe, Galway or the other twin in France?

Well, the choice, it seems, was obvious for the brains behind this promotional event! Let's create another one with better marketing potential. Not one citizen of the village, apart from local council representatives, had anything to do with these other twinnings either, nor have they benefited one iota from them.

The Bushmills Ulster Scots Heritage Group, who are currently seeking to link with an area in the States with authentic and historical roots to north Antrim for educational exchange and heritage development, were, unfortunately, also not consulted by Diageo about this twinning.

It can only be assumed from this, that the twinning to Louisville, another whiskey-producing town of over 250,000 citizens, was more to do with astute marketing and self-promotion for Diageo rather than the real heritage and community of Bushmills.

Significant

Incidentally, some whiskey brands produced in Louisville are also owned by Diageo, so perhaps the exchange of whiskey barrels at the ceremony was not as significant as it appeared.

Perhaps Lynchburgh and Jack Daniel's would have been a better option for the village of Bushmills, after all Jack Daniel's grandfather came from Ulster-Scots ancestry and emigrated from Ulster to New Bern, the two areas are more compatible in size and, who knows, maybe he took the secret of whiskey distilling with him from Ulster?

But somehow, I don't think Diageo would approve of twinning with a town and distillery where your competition comes from and that you don't own.

Bushmills resident