Council to help out with costs of cancelled festivals and events

Westmeath County Council has said it's prepared to make a contribution to the costs incurred by some local festivals and events which had to be cancelled this year due to the pandemic.

The move was praised by councillors at the December meeting of the Athlone Moate Municipal District, with Cllr John Dolan saying it "could make the difference between an event happening next year or not."

The council had a fund of €55,000 to distribute to festivals and community events in the Athlone Moate district in 2020.

At last week's meeting, director of services Barry Kehoe acknowledged that groups had incurred costs in cases where their events had been unable to take place this year.

"We are going to write to the various groups who were approved for funding under festivals and events, asking them, in the case that an event didn't go ahead, did they incur expense?" said Mr Kehoe.

"We'll see what we get back from them, and if we can we will make a contribution towards those costs."

Athlone's Mayor, Cllr Aengus O'Rourke, said this was a positive development. "It gives some clarity to groups that have been anxiously awaiting news on how some of their costs would be recouped," he said.

"It's an important piece of work because it prepares them for life after Covid, and for future festivals, and so on. To not give this would be to leave some of these events at risk, and that's the last thing we'd want to do."

Cllr Dolan agreed. "This is probably only small money, but it's important money for these groups, and I welcome it," he said.

In early March, thirty events were approved for funding in the first phase of the 2020 festivals and events grant scheme in the Athlone Moate district.

These included a number of events which had to be cancelled, such as triAthlone, the RTE All Ireland Drama Festival, Athlone Agri Show, and a number of parades and festivities around St Patrick's Day.