José Manuel Bolieiro presided over installation session of House of the Azores of the Central Region - Communication

Presidência do Governo Regional

On Thursday, the President of the Regional Government, José Manuel Bolieiro, presided over the installation session and inauguration of the governing bodies of the House of the Azores of the Central Region, which took place in Coimbra, at the Coimbra Municipal Culture and Conference Centre ( former São Francisco Convent).

"What a joy it is today to see that a dream has become a good expectation and the project a reality," said José Manuel Bolieiro.

The President of the Government stressed the importance of "recovering our origins," highlighting the work carried out by the Houses of the Azores in various parts of the world and encouraging the good auspices of this newly created and inaugurated House of the Azores.

With various university students in attendance, the President of the Government took the opportunity to point out his "confidence in the future" and stressed the importance of linking the House of the Azores to Academia as well.

The House of the Azores of the Central Region is the fourth in Portugal and the 18th in the world. After the Houses of the Azores of the North, Central Region, Lisbon and Madeira, the entire Portuguese territory will reach full coverage with the opening of the House of the Azores of the Southern Region (Alentejo and Algarve), also scheduled for 2024.

The Board of the House of the Azores of the Central Region has Francisco Coelho Gil as President, Nuno Freitas as Vice-President and Ana Goulart as Secretary.

The Board of the General Assembly is chaired by Paula Amaral, with Antonieta Reis Leite as Vice-Chair and Idalino Rocha as Secretary. The Supervisory Board is chaired by Paulo Fernandes, with Pedro Moniz as Vice-Chamber and Sónia Garcia as Full Member.

The event was attended by the Mayor of Coimbra, as host of the event, José Manuel Silva, the Regional Director for the Communities, José Andrade, several mayors from the 99 municipalities that make up the Central Region and the Boards of the Casa dos Açores of Lisbon and the North.

In the presence of several mayors from the Central Region, the President took the opportunity to offer words of "praise and solidarity" in light of the devastating fires ravaging Mainland Portugal, extolling the "effort and dedication with which they face this scourge" as the chief Civil Protection officers of their municipalities.

The President of the Government also praised the commitment of firefighters in battling the blazes. He also confided that he conveyed to the Prime Minister of Portugal "the readiness and willingness of the Azores to deploy, if necessary and requested, firefighters to join in the fight against this emergency."

The event ended with an Azorean concert performed by the Coimbra Gospel Choir and the Choir of the Former Orpheonists of the University of Coimbra.