Minister for Arts Announces €100k for Fleadh Cheoil 2022

Musicians announcing the Mullingar Fleadh Cheoil before the pandemic.

Minister for Arts Announces €100k for Fleadh Cheoil 2022

Comhaltas has also announced a scholarship scheme in memory of Ashling Murphy.

Minister for Arts Catherine Martin has announced a grant of €100,000 towards the costs of Fleadh Cheoil 2022.

The Fleadh returns as a live event this summer after being cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic and then running as an online event last year. It will take place in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, from 31 July to 7 August.

Minister Martin met with the Chairman of the Fleadh Joe Connaire and members of the organising committee yesterday (27 Jan) to discuss the preparations for the event. The Minister provided the grant as an exceptional measure due to the challenges of hosting the Fleadh after a two-year absence.

Commenting on the announcement, Minister Martin said:

The Fleadh Cheoil is the highlight of the year for performers and enthusiasts of traditional Irish music and dance. The absence of an in-person event has been greatly felt across the Irish and international traditional music community and I’m delighted the Mullingar team plans for Fleadh to be back better than ever in 2022. This special fund is in recognition of the fact the festival was unable to proceed in the last two years and needs support as audiences finally return. … This great summer festival will raise our spirits nationwide and contribute very strongly to economic recovery in the area.

The Fleadh Cheoil is organised annually by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann and attracts some five hundred thousand visitors to the host region during the event, with one in five people coming from abroad. Comhaltas was founded in Mullingar and the Fleadh Cheoil was previously held there in 1951 and 1963.

The organisation has also announced this week that a scholarship scheme titled Ceiliúradh Ashling is being established in memory of the 23-year-old musician and teacher Ashling Murphy who was murdered in Tullamore earlier this month. Murphy previously featured in Comhaltas concert tours and was also a member of the Comhaltas National Folk Orchestra of Ireland. 

For more on the announcement see here. For details of the festival, visit https://fleadhcheoil.ie/.

Published on 27 January 2022

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