Festival set to hit the right notes
The first of the Autumnal festivals in Enniscorthy is set to have the hands clapping and the feet tapping from September 13 to September 15, The Blackstairs Blues Festival is Ireland’s longest running blues event and now in its 30th year and is continuing to go from strength to strength.
This year’s offering featuring blues musicians from America, Europe, England, Wales and Ireland was launched in Rackard’s Bar, Rafter Street, where the idea of hosting a blues festival was first conceived way back in 1995. Once again, Heineken is the main sponsor but because of the festival’s growth in popularity, other major sponsors are coming on board this year including Failte Ireland, Wexford County Council, Pettitt’s Supervalu, C&R Print, Airconmech and Enniscorthy Credit Union.
The line of participating artistes this year is hugely impressive and two of the Irish acts, KJ McEvoy and Graham Moore were present at the launch and gave an impromptu session of what to expect in Enniscorthy over the weekend of September 13 - September 15.
Other headline acts include Gus Munro from Scotland, Sean Taylor from the UK and Marcel Scherpenzeel from Holland. They will be joined on stage by other acts including Austin Walkin’ Cane from the U.S., David Broad from the UK as well as Enniscorthy’s own blues band which was formed out of the festival back in 2018.
Festival Chairman, John Murphy outlined in detail the programme for Blackstairs Blues 2024 and said Enniscorthy will become the Blues Capital of Europe for the duration of the event. This would not be possible, he said, but for the very substantial sponsorship received from many sources for which the organising committee was extremely grateful. Enniscorthy, he added, will be the place to be this September and he hopes the festival would continue to win new fans with the quality of blues music on offer.
A dangerous junction in Enniscorthy which has been the scene of many accidents over the years is to be examined by the town’s newly appointed Roads Safety Engineer. A plan is being prepared and funding will be applied for in the hope of improving the junction at the top of Weafer street but Town Engineer, Niall Dempsey was unable to tell local councillors when the work might be undertaken when addressing the issue at the August meeting of the Municipal Authority. Hopefully, however, the Safety Engineer’s Report and funding will be available shortly in order to prevent what might be a fatal accident in that area.
Last week’s ‘Titans of Sport’ seminar hosted by GreenTerch HQ and featuring US boxing coach, Billy Walsh, alongside Irish International rugby star, Tadgh Furlong from New Ross was a hugely interesting and thought provoking exercise. Both were unanimous in their belief that funding was not the ‘be-all or endall’ of success but rather the continued commitment of volunteers at every level and in every sport which guaranteed success.
Sports Minister Thomas Byrne has announced that spending to support high performing athletes over the next four years will exceed €120 million with a further €400 million being spent on improving sporting facilities across the country. This announcement was enthusiastically endorsed by both international sportsmen with each, in turn, saying the most important criteria in the success of sportsmen and women was the level of voluntary support received during their training.
The ‘Titans of Sport’ seminar drew a capacity crowd to the Greentech HQ and after some lively input from both Walsh and Furlong, an interesting question and answer session followed which delved into all aspects of both superstars success.
Congratulations to the many students of the town’s second level schools who received their Leaving Certificate results last week. According to school principals, the results far exceeded their wildest expectations and as a result almost all students have now qualified for the courses of their choice at third level.