Revelry once again as Dingle parties into the New Year
THE crowd in Dingle partied well into the New Year as the town celebrated the arrival of 2017 in traditional fashion with the Fife and Drum band leading a throng of followers from O’Flaherty’s pub through the town and down Main Street to join the assembled crowd at the Small Bridge.
The sudden arrival of wind and rain after weeks of fine weather kept many revellers in the pubs and the crowd gathered at the bridge was smaller than in recent years. Far from dampening the celebrations, this came as a welcome relief for locals who were able to wish each other a happy new year as the band played Auld Lang Syne, rather than being swamped in the familiar melee.
Although Dingle has become known internationally as a New Year’s Eve ‘destination’ since the Millennium, the ‘revelry’ of the annual celebration has been a long-standing tradition in the town. Back in 1957 The Kerryman described how “large crowds thronged the streets playing fifes and drums to welcome the New Year and bid farewell to the year gone past.” The paper noted that “the revellery continued long after midnight”.
In 1967 the Kerryman reported that “youthful musicians with fifes and drums and other musical instruments played the funeral dirge of old man 1966 and hailed in the new-born year. The night was bright with a frosty nip in the air. It was long after midnight when the revelry ceased”. 1977 got no mention but in 1987 the Dingle Notes record that “on the stroke of midnight the local Fife and Drum Band paraded the town as the bells rang out the old and rang in the new.”
Ten years later the influence of tourism was well in evidence with a Kerryman report of 1996 attributing the attraction of Dingle on New Year’s Eve to the “restaurants, the customary ‘wild revelry’ on the streets at midnight, or just the craic in the pubs.”
The revelry has got wilder ever since, but local Gardaí said this year’s revellers were well behaved overall and there were no significant incidents.
Sgt Tom Burke said there was a “good, decent crowd” in Dingle on New Year’s Eve. With eight Gardaí on duty, the town was well policed and there was no more trouble than there would be on any holiday weekend.
Sgt Burke said the Wren’s night was also without serious incidents, despite concerns about the 30-plus busloads of young people who arrived into town. He said Gardaí have spoken to the organisers of these bus trips to ensure they are well marshalled and some now travel with ‘ bouncers’ on board.
However, he said policing these youngsters puts a significant strain on Garda resources. Gardaí are particularly concerned about younger teenagers coming to Dingle on such trips and he encouraged parents not to allow children aged under 18 to travel.