Two men with the same surname and the same job title - but from opposite sides of the Atlantic - spent the past week in the south-east exploring areas of mutual benefit to Ireland and Canada.
Mr Gerry Byrne, the Canadian Minister for Forestry, arrived last Wednesday to visit his ancestral home place of Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, and to hold discussions with his Irish counterpart, Mr Hugh Byrne.
The visit followed a chance meeting between the two ministers - who are not related - at a forestry conference in Turkey in 1997. The possibility of information exchanges on topics such as species, climate and processing was high on the business agenda for the nine-day visit.
However, it may well be his call to the 600-year-old Columbkille cemetery near Thomastown, where his ancestors are buried, that stands out most in Mr Byrne's memory when his stay is completed.
Mr Frank Kavanagh of Duchas, who carried out research on Mr Byrne's family background before his visit, said the minister took away several bottles from a spring in the cemetery which was once a pilgrimage site for people who believed there was a "cure" in the water.
While in Thomastown, the minister also visited Mrs Margaret Carroll, who will celebrate her 100th birthday later this month, and is directly related to his family, which emigrated to Canada in the early 19th century. "He is a real Irishman" was Mr Kavanagh's assessment of Mr Byrne, "and we're proud to have him in Canada for us."
With a Wexford minister hosting the trip, it was only to be expected that the Canadian minister also visited the Dunbrody Famine ship in New Ross, the JFK Arboretum, and the recently opened Kennedy homestead in Dunganstown. He returns to Canada tomorrow.