Mayor Marty Walsh departed from Shannon Airport this morning following a 10 day visit. Speaking ahead of his flight out of Shannon to Logan Airport, Boston, Mayor Walsh said that the schedule was dominated by business meetings, including in Shannon, Galway, Donegal, Derry, Belfast and Dublin.

"As Mayor of Boston my job is to go out there and market the city as best as we can. When I was here on this trip I tried to talk about tourism and inviting people to Boston and also around business development and making sure they know Boston is open (for business).

"That's an important piece here, part of me as Mayor of Boston, I am also an ambassador of the City."

Shannon Group plc Chairman Rose Hynes said that the Mayor's visit had opened further opportunities between Boston and Ireland.

"Mayor Walsh's visit was a great opportunity to strengthen relationships between the City of Boston and here and we have achieved that. He is carrying back to Boston a very positive message about the West of Ireland and, indeed, the entire country.

"The last thing he said on departure was that he would continue to be in touch to discuss further opportunities for both Boston and Ireland and we look forward to that."

Here is a link to an extended interview of Mayor Walsh today at Shannon Airport.