It's on! Dates for Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2021 announced

The dates for the All-Ireland Fleadh for 2021 – which is taking place in Mullingar – have just been announced by Fleadh chairman, Joe Connaire.

“The Fleadh is to open on Sunday August 1, 2021 and winds up on August 9,” Mr Connaire told the Westmeath Examiner today, Wednesday.

The president of Ireland, Michael D Higgins is to be asked to attend at the opening: “He was lined up to open the Fleadh here if it had gone ahead.”

Even though the Fleadh had to be cancelled for this year the organisers have announced that they do want to hold an event in Mullingar on what would have been the final weekend of the Fleadh.

“We want to do some kind of celebration in Mullingar on the weekend just to get the momentum going again,” said Mr Connaire.

That weekend is also when the Fleadh committee will have their next full meeting:

“We've been having Zoom meetings and WhatsApp meetings with three or four people at a time, but we are now planning to hold our first meeting of the full committee on August 10th.

“We will adhere to government guidelines - and at the end of the day if it comes to it, we can always sit out in the GAA field or an open space and have the two metre distances.”