StrawberryFairto becomeaBeerFest?

February 2002

The future of the traditional Strawberry Fair in Enniscorthy is teetering in the balance, with the radical announcement that Guinness is to put the money into the pubs of Enniscorthy instead of funding the Fair Committee.

And the surprise will leave the Fair committee with a financial crisis and they have decided to stand down.

Festival chairman Sean Og Doyle confirmed on Tuesday that the committee was shocked and will be unable to continue if the Guinness cash is diverted.

The proposal is that 90 per cent of the brewing giant’s cash will go to the vintners, in a startling break from tradition.

In the absence of Chivers and Bord Gais, Guinness’s €19,000 has become a mainstay of the finances necessary to keep the long-running fair on the road. Entertainments manager Cyril Cordon had been negotiating with Sharon Shannon with a view to bringing her to the stage in Market Square, on the assumption that he had the cash.

However, the organisation of the annual summer event has now been paralysed by the news delivered to the committee last Thursday by publican Mary Kavanagh. The move was greeted with disbelief and the conviction that it would be impossible to find alternative sources of money on the lavish scale offered by Guinness.

The Guinness contribution has been on a scale unmatched by other supporters, though Mylie Carroll of Aughrim Motors put up €4,000 last year.

‘It is a sad business,’ commented Sean Og Doyle, who indicated that he had no wish to take part in what could become a beer festival.

Enniscorthy Town Council Chairman Keith Doyle was of much the same view. ‘ The Strawberry Fair has always been deemed to be of higher stature than a pub festival. I would hate to see it go that way. It would no longer by the family festival it always was.’

‘If you take it off the streets, then it is no longer the Strawberry Fair,’ he added.

The council chairman’s worries were not shared by Mary Kavanagh, who declined to give any detailed comment, on the grounds that negotiations are continuing with Guinness.

She contented herself with remarking: ‘ Things are looking good. Don’t worry’.