R - Comhaltas Archive

·s •• nll ....l=. lilllllllillli.'99 were repeated ly told by Irish,European, British and North American(a nd indeed Far Eastern and other)guests that the ab iding memory, apartfrom the great music (and greatweather), is of the local people'sextreme helpfulness, friendliness andopenness to anyone w ho sought anykind of help,Such stori es we re legend, with onevisitor specifica lly ca lling to the Fl ead hoffice the Monday even ing after thefestival's closing week-end to expressamazement at his own experience ofthe generosity of spirit he encounteredin Enniscorthy.At present, members of the executivecommittee invo lved in the Fl ead h'sorganising are recovering, bothphysically and mentally, after the weekCeilf Band leaders in Enniscorthy SeanNorman and Matt Cunningham--- ~;'-of intense activity, preceded by monthsof planning.PRO Eddi e Nangle states thatcommittee members confess to findingthe event called on much more of theirstamina than antiCipated . Whileforewarned of th e hecti c demands,notably regarding accommodation, theystill 'found themselves stretched in tendifferent ways when the first majorwaves of people arrived on the Fridayafternoon .. . and all at the same time'.The absence of casual street trad ing inthe Enniscorthy Fleadh, one of thetraditional images associated with theevent, is said to be favourablycommented on by the organisingcommittee.According to the committee,Enniscorthy UDC's decision in thisrespect was 'a major step forward inreturning the streets to musicians'.In the view of the loca l orga ni sers, thi sdecision meant 'mu sicians did not haveto compete w ith generators, loud nontraditionalmusi c and large numbersstanding around sta lls'.Counting the CostFl eadh treasurer Sean Og Doyle,Chairman of Wexford Co. Council andalso treasurer of the 1967 Fleadh inEnniscorthy, with his co lleagues are notcounting the cost of this mammothcultural undertaking. The Fleadh in1967 cost in the region of £3,000;today thiswould hardly cover the costof stationery!Being designated a flagship MillenniumAn t-amhranaf ca iliClil Paddy Tunn ey leh-amhranaf ca iliClil eile Rita Ca llagherFesti va l, the Fleadh this yea r received afinancial subsc ription from MillenniumFesti va ls Ltd . What does 2000 hold instore? All that's for another day.Nothing is going to distract from thi syear's ce lebration of success .Ballad maker Paddy Berry, leaschathaoirleachof the Fl ead h, will nodoubt, when time permits immortaliseFl ead h '99 in song and as on ly he cando it. Sing us a song, Paddy!Anlaraitheoir anChomhaltais Mfcheal 6 hAllmhain.Ta Mfcheal ina ch6naf ar Inis Oirr52 ________________________________________________ _