Mayo pitching to host All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil in 2028

by Caoimhín Rowland

Ballina has entered the race to host the prestigious All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil in 2028.

Local musicians and community leaders are urging Mayo County Council, the government and the diaspora to support a bid they say could bring €60 million into the local economy.

Local elected representatives have been told the traditional Irish music festival, which last year attracted 600,000 visitors, would provide a transformative boost to Ballina and the county at large.

Michael O’Donnell, chairperson of Mayo Comhaltas and Bofield Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, has stressed the scale of the opportunity and the need for immediate action to ensure Mayo and Ballina's name is in the hat.

“This is a product with huge international appeal,” said Mr. O’Donnell.

“You get céilí bands and individual competitors coming from the USA, Japan, even Australia. It’s a major brand for Ireland Inc., just like the Wild Atlantic Way, and it must be promoted as such.”

However, a key concern raised during a meeting was the estimated €1.9 million in funding required to secure and stage the event.

Mr. O’Donnell expressed confidence that the money could be sourced, pointing to government support and the potential for contributions from businesses and Mayo natives abroad.

He singled out Minister Dara Calleary as a strong advocate for bringing the Fleadh to Ballina.

“This is an investment in the future of Mayo and Ireland,” he said.

“We’ve seen report after report calling for regional investment. Now is the time to put our hands up and fight for it.”

The project is a colossal undertaking, and will need professionals to help ensure its success.

Emphasising the complexity of the event, Mr. O’Donnell called for Mayo County Council to take the lead, with full-time staff dedicated to managing the project.

While local Comhaltas branches are willing to help, he warned that it is no longer feasible to rely on volunteers alone.

Accommodation, he noted, would need to stretch beyond Ballina to neighbouring towns and counties, as was the case when Sligo hosted the Fleadh in 2014 and 2015 and Ballina benefited.

Publican of traditional music pub An Bolg Buí on the banks of the Moy, Liam Naughton spoke about how it would benefit the wider region not just Ballina.

“I was in Wexford last year for the Fleadh, and most people stayed 25 to 30 miles away from the main town. It will be a massive event, something Ballina can cope with and needs all support.”

As a next step, Mr. O’Donnell proposed that council officials and Mayo’s TDs and Senators travel to meet with the Wexford Fleadh Executive Committee to learn from their experience in hosting last year’s event.

Bartley Gavin, secretary of Comhaltas Connacht Council and former director of services at Sligo County Council, has given the Ballina committee a first-hand account of the organisational scale involved.

The proposal is now expected to gather momentum, with council officials, community leaders and politicians set to explore the next stages in a bid that could see the traditional music festival echo through the streets of Ballina in just two years’ time.

In a statement issued to The Connaught Telegraph, Minister of State Dara Calleary said: "There is no doubt that the hosting of the All-Ireland Fleadh is a fantastic honour for any town, as it would be for Ballina and indeed for the entire county, and it brings with it huge economic and social benefits.

"The last time the Fleadh was held in Ballina in 1997 and 1998, it had a huge impact on young people and hundreds of young people have taken up Irish music as a result of what they witnessed at the Fleadh.

"Ballina and the wider North Mayo area has a great history of tradition of Irish music and covers the entire area from Bofield and Bonniconlon to Killala and Lacken, Foxford and Crossmolina and everywhere in between.

"It would be a huge undertaking to host the largest community festival in the county with upwards of 1,500 volunteers required, multiple medium and large venues needed to host the multitude of competitions, and accommodation types of all varieties for the upward of 600,000 visitors it will attract to the region.

"Based on Fáilte Ireland data, the All-Ireland Fleadh generates €60 million each year to the local economy and attracts 600,000 visitors over nine days with 30% of visitors from overseas.

"The figure of €1.9million in terms of costs must also be looked at as an opportunity – it incorporates costs that will be paid to local service providers from security to event management, signage, lighting, advertising in local media outlets on top of the income it will generate for accommodation providers, restaurants, shops and bars.

"In relation to the ratepayers, that is a function of Mayo County Council so any decision in respect of the cost to ratepayers would be a matter for the elected members and the management of the local authority.

"From my end, I will be doing whatever I can to support the bid – I believe that the immediate economic and long-term benefits in terms of international exposure outweighs the costs."