Fleadh prep to step up after summer

Preparations for next year’s Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Mullingar are to be stepped up after the summer as the town prepares to host “the largest event it will experience in 2022”.

The June meeting of the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad heard that Westmeath Comhaltas has recommenced planning for the fleadh and this is likely to be stepped up later this year. A preliminary meeting was held with the council in May and according to Deirdre Reilly, director of services, the council is looking forward to resuming where they left off last year when plans to host the fleadh had to be shelved due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The matter was raised by Cllr Denis Leonard, who said that this was the largest event the area would experience in 2022 when the “nation will descend on Mullingar with a huge spin-off for tourism”.

Cllr Leonard remarked that as Mullingar was “nearly at the final stages of planning for the fleadh last year, we should have a lot of the work done already”.