THE CANADIAN ambassador to Ireland Loyola Hearn will be back in Co Donegal later this week as Buncrana hosts a commemoration for the 350 men who died aboard the SS Laurentic in Lough Swilly in 1917.
This will be the 5th Laurentic Conference and Wreath Laying ceremony, starting on Wednesday and continuing until Friday.
The events have helped to foster closer relationships between Donegal and Canada in recent years.
The Laurentic sank within 20 minutes of hitting German mines in the Swilly on January 25, 1917. It was bound for Canada and was laden with gold to pay for goods to keep the war against Germany going. Records showed 354 people died – with 121 survivors.
Many of the dead were buried in Cockhill and Fahan.
All the events will be in and around Buncrana from Wednesday, with Mr Hearn leading the wreath-laying ceremony.
The organisers of the Laurentic conference and events have invited family members, relatives and government representatives of the countries affected by this disaster including Ireland, UK, USA, Canada, South Africa and Hong Kong along with a cross-border Trans-Atlantic Economic Development Conference.
The conference is on Thursday at the Inishowen Gateway Hotel – with the wreath-laying ceremonies in Fahan and Cockhill on Friday.
Around two dozen gold bars lost when the ship sank have never been recovered.