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Pittsfield Welcomes Officials from Sister City Ballina Ireland

Gifts were exchanged between the two Sister Cities at Tuesday's event, with Ballina Councillor Mark Duffy, right, and Irish Sister City Committee President Robert Dwyer. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Officials from sister city Ballina, Ireland, in Mayo County traveled to Pittsfield this weekend to experience its culture and build international relationships.

Ballina Municipal District Councillor Mark Duffy and Head of the District Declan Turnbull arrived on Saturday. Since then, they have been shown the ins and outs of the city, dined at Patrick's Pub, and even got to see its historical Fourth of July parade.

A reception was held at City Hall on Tuesday before the two returned home. Duffy was recently elected as this year's Cathaoirleach, something of a mayor or president of the council, and Turnbull is the senior executive. 

"America supported Ireland when it was needed most," Duffy said. "In the mid-1800s we had the potato famine,1 million people died, over 2 million more people emigrated, and that's what makes the Irish American story what it is today."

He and his colleague came to the states to sport cultural connections and friendships on this occasion.  Duffy said the two communities have a lot to learn from each other.  

Though Ballina is a town of about 10,000 people and Pittsfield is that of around 40,000, both are faced with the challenge of sustainability. The town aspires to become the greenest in the republic with multimodal transportation, carbon-neutral energy options, and green space to promote biodiversity.

Pittsfield has taken up similar initiatives such as the Complete Streets project and the Bicycle Facilities Master Plan, both of which aim to improve quality of life and reduce emissions.  

A number of open space and green space projects have also been completed in the last couple of years including the West Side Riverway Park and the literary-themed Kellogg Park.

Duffy pointed out that planners in Ballina would also like to bring light to their town's center and make people want to live in, which can be compared to the city's efforts with North Street and the greater downtown area.

Turnbull pointed to the city's bike lanes and green space and said Ballina is trying to do the same thing, having already introduced some. Similar to Pittsfield, residents across the ocean have varied views of the bike lanes, he added.

State Economic Development Secretary Visits Pittsfield

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
12:28PM / Tuesday, March 17, 2026

Eric Paley was appointed secretary last year. This was his first time visiting in the Berkshires in that role. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The state secretary of economic development visited Pittsfield on Monday to hear about the condition of its economy and downtown. 

Executive Office of Economic Development Secretary Eric Paley joined local small-business owners, state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, state Sen Paul Mark, and Mayor Peter Marchetti for a roundtable discussion at the Berkshire Black Economic Council at the beginning of the day. 

"I think supporting downtowns and keeping them vibrant and energetic is a challenge in many parts of the state, and certainly many gateway cities, but I think people want to live where there's lively, strong downtowns," Paley said. 

"And they want to spend their money where they feel there's an energetic, long downtown, and that's a critical factor for Pittsfield that we do see in other gateway cities." 

He said Berkshire County has "extraordinary" strengths as a tourism and cultural leader, but like many other places, its small businesses are struggling with operating costs and affordability, as "Housing is a challenge, childcare, healthcare, these are challenges we see all across the state, but they kind of hit differently in different locations." 

The secretary feels Berkshire County competes "very" well with the nearby Catskills, Hudson Valley, and Adirondacks in New York State because of how strong the cultural community is, but sustaining those communities is a challenge. 

"Making the community fun year-round when so many people come in the summer, but also making sure that resources keep building and growing here is key, and there's been some flattening of some of the key economic indicators, and extending that strength is really important," Paley said. 

"…There were a lot of just a lot of heartfelt, thoughtful comments and things that we need to be talking about every day as we think of different regions of the state and how we support them."