Taoiseach Leo Varadkar paid tribute to musician Sinéad O’Connor at the opening ceremony of Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Mullingar.
He attended the event on Sunday in the absence of President Michael D Higgins, who recently had a back operation.
Mr Varadkar said it would be remiss of him as Taoiseach not to speak about O’Connor, who died on July 26th, at the event.
Describing O’Connor as a “musician, an activist and an artist”, he said: “Her loss makes this fleadh bittersweet, a happy occasion but with a tinge of sadness.
“She was a wonderful traditional Irish music artist and her sixth album, Sean-Nós Nua, remains one of her best.”
The fleadh runs until August 14th in Mullingar, with more than 500,000 people expected to visit for the event. The Co Westmeath town also hosted the event last year, which was dubbed the “homecoming” as the fleadh was founded in Mullingar in 1951. Wexford town has been chosen to stage the fleadh next year.
Mr Varadkar said Mullingar would experience a huge economic boost as a result of the event.
“Mullingar is a prosperous town, a town that is doing well economically, but having something like this for eight days over two years brings in about €100 million, which is a huge amount of money,” the Fine Gael leader said.
The event would also introduce the town to “people who may not have visited before” and may come back again, he said.
The Taoiseach hailed the cultural importance of the fleadh in widening Ireland’s global reach.
“In 100 years of statehood, I don’t think Ireland’s global influence has ever been so strong. From diplomacy to trade to sport, and cultural influence. We have a lot to be proud of and that starts off at events like the Fleadh Cheoil,” he said.
Joe Connaire, chair of the fleadh executive committee, told the more than 2,000 strong crowd attending the opening ceremony to expect “the best fleadhanna ever”.
“We’re putting Mullingar on the map on the worldwide stage. I welcome everyone here for the week and hope people enjoy. It’s an event everyone should enjoy,” he said.
Labhrás Ó Murchú, director general of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, said having the fleadh in Mullingar is important considering the event has its roots in the town.
“I often reminisce of the men and women who came together in a small room in Mullingar in 1951 who had a dream to enable our cultural traditions to survive,” he said. “That dream today has surely come through and Comhaltas today is right across Ireland and in 21 countries worldwide.
“I don’t think that the group of people who gathered in Mullingar in 1951, even in their wildest dreams, could have imagined that would happen.”
Hundreds of free and ticketed events will take place across Mullingar over the eight days of the fleadh, as well as competitions that are the basis for the event.