Adding Connection to PipelineComponent

Question

I am writing a custom PipelineComponent for SSIS, and need to access a connection as defined within the package connection manager. I have tried using the AcquireConnections method as described here but when i call ComponentMetaData.RuntimeConnectionCollection.Count I get 0 (zero) count.

Currently my class has the below attribute:

    [DtsPipelineComponent(DisplayName = "My Pipeline", ComponentType = ComponentType.DestinationAdapter)]

How do I add a connection as defined within the connection manager to the PipelineComponent? Or how can I access the package connections from the component?