Fleadh Ceoil na hÉireann, the biggest annual event in the Irish traditional music calendar, is making a return to Ennis after 39 years and promises a dividend of €38 million for the local economy. “Music makes me happy and I could not live without it,” said one of the thousands of people to converge on Ennis yesterday for the opening day of the annual fleadh.
Upwards of 400,000 people are expected in Ennis, Co Clare, over the next week. Such are the numbers that the organisers are making plans to turn the main streets, O’Connell Street and Abbey Street, into one-way thoroughfares for pedestrians at peak times during the fleadh.
Calvin Butler, a 10-year mandolin and banjo player from the nearby village of Crusheen, was busy enjoying the rich tradition of youngster busking on the streets by playing on Parnell Street. He earned €77 – not bad for less than one hour of playing.
“I like busking because people stop when they are walking past just to hear my music. Little kids often come up and dance in front of me. I am looking to playing more in my home town where my friends and family can see me play.”
Calvin and his older sister, Abby (13), who plays the fiddle, will be joining hundreds of other schoolchildren from today at the Scoil Éigse that runs for the next four days. Abby will also be competing in an under-15s group in the fleadh ceoil competition.
Looking on as President Michael D Higgins formally opened the fleadh yesterday, Abby said: “Competing in my home town is great. You get to show people how far you’ve come . . . you also get to meet new people through music from around the world.”
Addressing thousands in the Abbey Street car park yesterday, President Higgins said: “Ennis, as the capital of a county that is renowned internationally for its wonderful living music heritage, continues to be a place of great creative possibility.”
Reared in the nearby village of Newmarket-on-Fergus and a former pupil of St Flannan’s College in Ennis, President Higgins added: “Clare has an unbroken chain of creative performers from the earliest of times, from the days of Mrs Crotty, through the Willie Clancy School, and the contemporary, internationally recognised genius of Martin Hayes, Tony McMahon and Noel Hill.
“It is appropriate, then,” he said, “that we are gathered here in Ennis for the All-Ireland Fleadh, one of the greatest cultural festivals in the world and one which attracts many music lovers from abroad to Irish shores.”
President Higgins said the first fleadh attracted just a few hundred visitors in Mullingar in 1951.
This year’s fleadh, sponsored by Shannon Airport and Supermacs, will cost €1.1 million to stage and involves 10,000 musicians, with 6,000 of them participating in 180 competitions.
“We are witnessing a great community meitheal to ensure that the fleadh down in Ennis is the best fleadh ever,” said Micheál Ó Riabhaigh, chairman of the fleadh executive committee. “It is a great privilege and an even greater responsibility to host this incredible event.”
More than 1,000 volunteers have been recruited to ensure the event runs smoothly. They are highly visible in their distinctive green tops.
Rosemarie Collins from Kilkishen, Co Clare, said she got involved “because you want it go well and there is a great sense of pride that it is taking place in Ennis this year”.
Throughout the week, there will be 28 concerts, featuring traditional Irish music luminaries such as Martin Hayes, Maura O’Connell, Stockton’s Wing, Frankie Gavin, and the Kilfenora Céiilí Band.
