It’s hard to put the start of August into words. Féile an Phobail had already started by the end of July. The much anticipated Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann was to begin on the 2nd. To get the week long festivities started Antrim Ladies lifted the Mary Quinn cup to become all-Ireland football champions. Féile would see its highest record attendance figures, the Fleadh would double footfall predictions to 1.6 million. And not to be out done by their football colleagues, Antrim camógs would lift the Jack McGrath cup to also become all-Ireland champions, our athletes showing their male counterparts how it’s done. What a week!
To encapsulate what the Fleadh meant is challenging. To experience it was overwhelming. It is simply the best thing to ever happen to Belfast. A colleague of mine brought his 95 year-old, wheelchair bound, mother down to experience it. She cried her eyes out. She never thought she would ever see Belfast like that, in all its glory. I suspect there are many many others who feel exactly the same. It is ‘too early to tell’ the impact of the Fleadh because it goes beyond the quantitative metrics of money and footfall. It speaks to something much deeper. Ice covering our collective soul was pierced so deeply that a vision of what could be became tangible. Fleadh 2026 will be seen, I believe, as a watershed in the history of Belfast and Ireland.
The Fleadh provided an open invite to everyone and anyone to experience Irish culture as much or as little as they saw fit. It transcended identities by touching people through music as only music can. Seeing kids making their first few quid busking, chatting to strangers and wondering around city centre streets with drink in hand enjoying the craic I hope opened up new horizons to those once resistant to Irish culture. If the Fleadh was an appetiser, then perhaps other barriers may begin to fall? At Irish Border Poll’s event at Féile Linzi McLaren stated that Irish unity goes beyond the politics of Orange and Green. And it does. As music and dance speak to the heart imagine for a moment an Ireland were the spirit of the Fleadh was not the exception but the rule. Now hold that thought.
The future we long for is not a pipe dream. It is very possible and within touching distance as ‘hope and history rhyme’. With my holidays booked for next year I’m counting the days to Fleadh 2027. Tiocfaidh ár grá! Tiocfaidh ár Fleadh!!!
by Ciarán Hartley
It’s hard to put the start of August into words. Féile an Phobail had already started by the end of July. The much anticipated Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann was to begin on the 2nd. To get the week long festivities started Antrim Ladies lifted the Mary Quinn cup to become all-Ireland football champions. Féile would see its highest record attendance figures, the Fleadh would double footfall predictions to 1.6 million. And not to be out done by their football colleagues, Antrim camógs would lift the Jack McGrath cup to also become all-Ireland champions, our athletes showing their male counterparts how it’s done. What a week!
To encapsulate what the Fleadh meant is challenging. To experience it was overwhelming. It is simply the best thing to ever happen to Belfast. A colleague of mine brought his 95 year-old, wheelchair bound, mother down to experience it. She cried her eyes out. She never thought she would ever see Belfast like that, in all its glory. I suspect there are many many others who feel exactly the same. It is ‘too early to tell’ the impact of the Fleadh because it goes beyond the quantitative metrics of money and footfall. It speaks to something much deeper. Ice covering our collective soul was pierced so deeply that a vision of what could be became tangible. Fleadh 2026 will be seen, I believe, as a watershed in the history of Belfast and Ireland.
The Fleadh provided an open invite to everyone and anyone to experience Irish culture as much or as little as they saw fit. It transcended identities by touching people through music as only music can. Seeing kids making their first few quid busking, chatting to strangers and wondering around city centre streets with drink in hand enjoying the craic I hope opened up new horizons to those once resistant to Irish culture. If the Fleadh was an appetiser, then perhaps other barriers may begin to fall? At Irish Border Poll’s event at Féile Linzi McLaren stated that Irish unity goes beyond the politics of Orange and Green. And it does. As music and dance speak to the heart imagine for a moment an Ireland were the spirit of the Fleadh was not the exception but the rule. Now hold that thought.
The future we long for is not a pipe dream. It is very possible and within touching distance as ‘hope and history rhyme’. With my holidays booked for next year I’m counting the days to Fleadh 2027. Tiocfaidh ár grá! Tiocfaidh ár Fleadh!!!