Comhaltas cheques presentation
THE curtain came down on Fleadh Cheoil Chorcaí 2016 for the committee of Craobh An Rath Charleville when the chairperson of the Fleadh committee, Catherine Horgan, treasurer Judy Tobin and honorary secretary Liz Cotter presented cheques of €500 each from the proceeds of the event to local charitable causes at the Charleville Park Hotel on last Friday evening.
The beneficiaries of the money were the Holy Family School for special needs children and the Charleville Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Ms Margaret Looby, Principal of the Holy Family accepted the cheque on their behalf, while Ian Doyle President of the Charleville St. Vincent de Paul Society with their treasurer Dan McCarthy was their on their behalf.
Catherine Horgan, chairperson of the Charleville Fleadh committee, said they had a wonderful weekend of traditional Irish music, song and dance and the event was an outstanding success for Charleville and for Comhaltas in Cork. She paid tribute to her colleagues on the committee, Liz Cotter, Lisa McAuliffe, Charlie O’Connell and Judy Tobin, who had put so much effort and energy into making the occasion an event to remember. She also thanked the management and staff of the Charleville Park Hotel for their excellent co-operation in creating a piece of Comhaltas history, as this was the first ever Fleadh Cheoil Chorcaí where the many competitions were held under one roof.
“When this idea was first mooted it was said it would not work, but it was a brilliant success and everybody was delighted, including the competitors, who didn’t have to rush around to different venues for each competition,” said Catherine.
Margaret Looby and Ian Doyle both thanked the committee for their donations and said the money would be well spent. Ms Looby said they had just moved into their new extension at the Holy Family School, but there were many more pieces of class equipment required and the money would go towards purchasing these. Ian Doyle said the Vincent de Paul were facing into their busiest period of the year in Christmas time and the money would be used to fund relief for needy people in the town and district.