Not enough Irish in failed Belfast Council bid to host Fleadh Cheoil but city plans to bid again

In a council report officials also noted failings of not attending enough fleadhs, and insufficient disabled access. Last year Belfast lost out to Mullingar in County Westmeath.

One of the biggest festivals of traditional Irish culture in the world, the Fleadh Cheoil attracts many tens of thousands of international visitors every year. In its 60 year history the festival has only been held once in Northern Ireland, in Londonderry.

Ards Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, a cross-community non profit organisation promoting and fostering Irish traditional music, song and dance in the Ards area, teamed up with Belfast Council to make the city’s bid for the festival.

As part of the bidding process, local musicians and Belfast officials visited the US and Great Britain to discuss their bid with the voting members. This aspect of the bid stirred division at City Hall after a People Before Profit councillor tried to stop what she described as a £20,000 “junket” for council staff members and musicians travelling to New York.

Wexford will host the event in 2024 and 2025. Belfast City Council will bid again for the next event.

The council report outlined the failings and strengths of the 2024 Belfast bid. It states: “There were specific areas for improvement highlighted by voting members and trusted advisors – more Irish language content within the bid document; more detailed engagement with provincial comhaltas; greater attendance at conventions; greater focus on disabled access; and more involvement from Ards CCE.”

The report states: “The other documents do seem to have some key messages in Irish, acting as taglines for the bid document – this was absent from the Belfast bidding document.”

“The information received to date indicates that the vote was split with the vote being decided by votes from the Chair and General Secretary – with the most significant influencing factor being on those votes being the lack of engagement with all four provincial councils.

"This lack of engagement was due to pressures on human and financial resources. Given the weighting and importance of engagement this approach has been revisited for future requirements.”

The report said the contribution of the Ards Branch required an “uplift” from the previous bid, taking the form of partnering on convention visits, increased performances at conventions and other key engagements. It states: “This will of course incur additional expenditure for members of the Ards Comhaltas which in turn should be recognised given their status as a voluntary organisation.”

Total costs for funding attendance by council officials and the Ards branch to fleadhs, conventions and other traditional Irish cultural events between 2023 and 2025 are estimated by the council to be around £179,000.