This article is from page 2 of the 2006-04-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
THE world’s best Irish dancers have descended on Ennis for the annual All-Ireland and International Irish Dance Championships.
This is the fourth year that the championships organised by An Chomhdhail have visited Ennis and as usual the venue is the West County Hotel.
Ennis had previously been the venue in 2002, 2003 and 2004 with Dublin being the venue in 2005. Hundreds of competitors, parents and interested spectators have been circulating the Ennis venue since the competition kicked of in style on Sunday (April 9).
The seven day festival runs from April 9-16 with the concluding event taking place on Easter Sunday night. The event is a huge boost to the local economy with most local accommodation taken up.
This year there is a truly international field with competitors Ireland, England, Scotland, USA and Slovakia taking part. Mattew Donoghue, Chairperson of An Comhdhail said the event has been a major success do far.
“It been pretty hectic alright. There’s been dancers, parents, uncles, friends, cousins, aunts, granparents, everybody you could think of, has been around”
“Over 200 competitors will compete in the event. The people are really enjoying it and everybody is settling in after Sunday’s opening ceremony.
“Everything is going according to plan and as usual Ennis has been an excellent venue. So far we have had the five solo championships and the competition will finish with the senior championships next Sunday,” he added.
The event willl return to Ennis for 2007.