Strong cultural and sporting themes on st patricks day mayo county matters

This week’s Mayo County Matters on Irish TV has an action packed line up with features from sport, to music, to dancing and a bit of coffee making thrown into the mix. You can see it all on St. Patrick's Day at 7.30 p.m. on Irish TV Sky 191 and online at www.irishtv.ie.

Coming up on this week’s show, the crew paid a visit to Mulranny set dancing weekend held in the Mulranny Park Hotel to find out what brings dancers back year after year. They spoke to organiser Mickey Kelly as well as renowned set dance tutor Pat Murphy. The weekend features set dance workshops, ceilis and performances.

Castlebar Parkrun recently celebrated its first anniversary and Mayo County Matters went along to see what attracts participants in such large numbers every Saturday morning.

“It’s not about racing, it’s about running,” explained volunteer Maggie Heneghan, who added that you don’t in fact have to run but can walk or jog too.

Parkrun is an international phenomenon and takes place in Westport, Ballina and Castlebar every Saturday at 9.30 a.m. The Castlebar event leaves from Castlebar Tennis Club and runners are timed. “But you don’t compete against the other participants, you just compete against yourself and your own personal time,” explained Charlie Lambert of Mayo Sports Partnership.

With the evenings getting longer and spring definitely in the air, thoughts are turning to GAA so the crew met up with the Mayo senior hurling squad to find out what their ambitions, under a new management structure, are for 2015.

And while the hurlers have their sights set on a Christy Ring title we already have an All-Ireland title holder in our midst. Natalia Piotrowska is the Irish champion barista who will be heading to the US to represent Ireland in the world championships in April. Irish TV caught up with her to find out the secret behind the perfect cup of coffee.

The show also features some great music from Paddy Keenan and friends at Matt Molloy’s pub in Westport.

“We are delighted to have such strong sporting and cultural themes in this special St. Patrick’s Day Mayo County Matters programme. There are a lot of exciting events taking place in Mayo and if you have a story for us you can email mayo@irishtv.ie,” said Mayo County Matters presenter Toni Bourke.