The Fleadh Drogheda 2018

gebbel

Streets packed and really good atmosphere, publicans must be delighted some of them are making a killing!

Fair shower of rain there. No way that crowd could have all found shelter.

positron

Fantastic atmosphere in town earlier today. Huge groups coming out of rail way station into town with every train arrival. Streets absolutely jam packed, barely enough room to walk. Performances in every corner. Everyone enjoying or joining in and making the most of it in their own ways. Loads of beer, food etc. Over near the play ground the dom had another 1700 or so folks attending the competition. Lovely bright summers day for all the action. Never seen such a great positive vibe in Drogheda before!!

Got down today for about 90 minutes. Had a pint and a walk around. Was lovely weather when I was there. Town was busy but not too packed. Could easily wander around and have a mooch.

It's great to see the talent and ability on show. As I said before, I'm not the biggest Ceili or traditional Irish music fanatic in the world, and it all becomes a bit 'samey' after a little while, but it is still a great little spectacle. It's all done really well, but all still quite amateur with the people throwing down their own mats (plywood?) to clatter about on (instead of little set up stages around the place). Although I'm not complaining, i love the 'makey uppy' kind of charm it all has.

With the street pedestrianised completely, and the sheer volume of people wandering around, it does feel like a completely different place. It's like going on holiday somewhere you've already seen in a film. It's all very familiar, yet seems strangely different.

I never really noticed it, but Bank Of Ireland have a clas floral display on their building. They have a solid horizontal line o flowers across the upper half of the building (presumably by sticking a load of planter boxes tight beside each other) but it really jumped out at me today when I was wandering around. Looked really really good.


Now for my moaning: They (by 'they' I mean the pubs, the Council, any shop or business, just anybody really) should fire some extra seating out onto the streets. Even if the Councul could lift some benches from dundalk's streetscapes and stick them in drogheda for the week to avoid buying benches they wont need in a few days. for the 90 minutes I was there, i didnt sit at all. Which is fine, I'm 30. But I seen an enormous amount of older people wandering around and you could tell they wanted to stop and sit, but the facility simply isn't there for them.

Even a load of pallets lined up in the middle of the street with a bit of ply screwed on top of them would work (would look cheap of course, but would serve it's purpose and could be disposed of afterwards).

I also noticed Frank, the large Fleadh statue/man, has now only got one arm. :rolleyes: I hope whoever broke it didn't take the arm with them and actually left it there so it could be fixed up (though I doubt they'll ever put him back in the town again).


And my final negative moan: The taxi drivers can fcuk right off! Moaning about their loss of revenue, and yet they're driving so incredibly aggressively around the place. Genuinely, without exaggeration; I don't know how I didn't clatter into one of them when she skipped the traffic on the bridge of peace by using the left lane, and then (without any prior notice) nearly took me off the road by jolting in front of me to wedge into the right lane (to turn across west st). Full of moaning and complaining they're not making a penny, you'd think they'd be happy to sit in traffic with everyone else, but nope, have to make the whole fleet look like a bunch of as*holes by doing stupid stuff like that. And that' just one example of the aggressive taxi driving behaviour i noticed in my short stint driving around the town this week.

It has completely put me off them. Taxi drivers were never gonna do well at this, so lots of them booked holidays to go away. A few businesses closed up (admittedly I only know of 2 personally, but I'm sure there's more) as the lack of access would make their job hard. Yet, they're not giving out about getting legal with the council.

The DI (or Leader? Can't remember which) article about the Taxi drivers made them look like a bunch of amateur cowboys. No professionalism whatsoever and nothing good to say about anybody.


Anyway...


Great Garda presence about the place; I'll give them that.

Does anyone know what time the fireworks are on tomorrow night? I heard something about them earlier on but i haven't seen any official mention of them (or if its even a thing? Perhaps i was just told little lies..?)

gipi

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Fair shower of rain there. No way that crowd could have all found shelter.

We didn't Got soaked, not a taxi to be seen, nothing for it but to walk home in the rain. Ah well!

@KKV

@KKV **** the taxi drivers indeed, I was in a stand off earlier on the bike with one who decided he wasn't waiting in the queue at the lights at the bus depot heading down donore rd and nipped out and drove against traffic to try to turn in at the shop there but had me and van coming against him. Ended up sat there beeping at us until the queue let him back in. Van driver was shouting in his window and thought I'd have to hop off the bike and pull them apart at one point.

On the Gardai. the traffic corps have been busy indeed. Nearly every time I've been out I've seen them with some one pulled for something or other.

emilymemily

Apparently theres been some attempted attacks on young women around the town over the fleadh, one girl cornered by two men and followed home, another girl held against her will in a carpark in town by an unknown man/men. Guards wearnt helpful in either situation. Keep safe and watch out for your friends, dont walk home alone if you can help it either.

utyh2ikcq9z76b

emilymemily wrote: »

Apparently theres been some attempted attacks on young women around the town over the fleadh, one girl cornered by two men and followed home, another girl held against her will in a carpark in town by an unknown man/men. Guards wearnt helpful in either situation. Keep safe and watch out for your friends, dont walk home alone if you can help it either.

Seen this posted on social media, and I'm skeptical, it happened at 4.30am so everyone's pissed, the girl started off cornered by 2 men apparently, but was also able to get
to the Garda to inform them before then being followed home, doesn't add up for me. Its been posted as if a small young girl has been held by two big men,yet she's able to easily get away, all that was said is 'your coming home with me' which could be said like a chat up line.I doubt attackers after easily letting her get away to the Garda are gonna stand there waiting on her only to follow her the whole way home and not be able to catch her or do anything...Maybe the girl was pissed drunk/off her face and paranoid! And if she is really young as being portrayed, its a parental issue at most, allowing a young child out at 4.30 am in the middle of a festival

tiggerific

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Does anyone know what time the fireworks are on tomorrow night? I heard something about them earlier on but i haven't seen any official mention of them (or if its even a thing? Perhaps i was just told little lies..?)

Fireworks starting at 11.30pm from the top of scotch hall!

Mr Magnolia

Great afternoon yesterday with the Mrs Mag's & the kids. Music, dancing and atmosphere great, bins everywhere so no rubbish on the streets, plenty of garda so no antisocial behaviour and even the toilets were very clean.

Bravo to all involved.

markc1184

It's been a fantastic week. I personally thought it wasn't for me a couple of weeks ago but I've been on the town most of this past week and I've really enjoyed it. Looking forward to next year now.

Has anyone heard the rumours (and rumours is exactly what they are at the moment) that Drogheda may well be awarded the Fleadh for a third year running? I've heard more than one person say it (though I doubt it to be true).


Have to say, I was out and about today and it was excellent. Really great atmosphere and no real messing about involved. Did see a few of the scobes starting to congregate but the Gardai were quick enough to start ushering them out of the town. Seen the Public Order Gardai arrive within minutes and start moving them on (mostly black lads, it'd seem, so I dunno if something happened, that I missed, but there were a fair few Gardai moving them on and they weren't taking any lip from them).


Pity the Garda service will quickly return to being a shell of that tomorrow. But it's been great to see the town so open and active.

Even if the Fleadh ends next year, it'd be nice to see someone come up with something to keep the momentum going, and pedestrianise the streets for a couple of days and get something happening. A mini-Fleadh of sorts. be a shame to just see next year's come and go and then have it forgotten about.

Well in order to be a Fleadh there is usually a local and a provincial before it ever arrives in our town in terms of the competitions so we could host those.

As for the other stuff you mentioned from what I "heard" facebook and out of towners were involved :rolleyes:

utyh2ikcq9z76b

Twas a savage week, best craic in the town ever, I never thought Drogheda had it in it, passed all my expectations!

endacl

Worst fleadh I’ve ever attended, and I’ve been going for decades. Will give it a miss by choice next year for the first time. Drogheda just didn’t seem to ‘get it’. C&W bands playing through PA systems in pubs. Abba piped onto the streets. Limited spots to sit in and play a tune.

Missed opportunity, Drogheda.

endacl

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Well in order to be a Fleadh there is usually a local and a provincial before it ever arrives in our town in terms of the competitions so we could host those.

As for the other stuff you mentioned from what I "heard" facebook and out of towners were involved :rolleyes:

The local and provincial are competition based. They’re always held over a weekend in a school.

IvoryTower

Great week for the town, booking next year off to get more involved. The atmosphere was incredible at times. The weather held off enough to allow it to be great but a week of clear skies next year would be something. All my guests were delighted with it, a few said it was the best they can remember, good times.

Be great if they could pedestrianise outside st peters church to the Tholsel. It makes so much sense...

gebbel

endacl wrote: »

Worst fleadh I’ve ever attended, and I’ve been going for decades. Will give it a miss by choice next year for the first time. Drogheda just didn’t seem to ‘get it’. C&W bands playing through PA systems in pubs. Abba piped onto the streets. Limited spots to sit in and play a tune.

Missed opportunity, Drogheda.

There's always one. You're entitled to that view of course but thankfully it's not shared by anyone else I've heard give their verdict (which is dozens upon dozens).

borderlinemeath

gebbel wrote: »

There's always one. You're entitled to that view of course but thankfully it's not shared by anyone else I've heard give their verdict (which is dozens upon dozens).

Ah, there was a couple of moaners on a facebook thread I was commenting on. Apparently organisers over the past decade or so have sacrificed tradition for high attendance numbers because numbers translate to money. They don't like the direction it's been going and how dare they have the likes of Aslan to appeal to non traditional music fans. One went so far as to say that it shouldn't evolve and if if traditional music dies out because they are reluctant to move with the times and appeal to wider audiences then it "should die with dignity". Typical Irish cut off your nose to spite your face type stuff. You would swear it's turned into the Eurovision song contest they way they were going on.

One of the reasons I hated learning Irish in school was it was always mired in Misery such as Peig Sayers. Some of the moaners reminded me of it!

endacl

gebbel wrote: »

There's always one. You're entitled to that view of course but thankfully it's not shared by anyone else I've heard give their verdict (which is dozens upon dozens).

I'm sure there were more than dozens who had a great time. Sure why wouldn't you? The whole town in party mode. That's not the point I was making, though.

The majority view among I encountered among regular fleadh attenders, both musicians and lovers of the music, was that this year's fleadh was a disappointment. The fleadh 'proper', if you like, has always been the competitions and performances organised by Comhaltas. Which, tbh, I can take or leave. Around this though are the sessions and meetings and spontaneous gatherings that just kinda happen. There were relatively few opportunities for this in Drogheda though. That's what I meant by the town not really 'getting it'. I passed through several pubs with a guy belting out ballads through a PA. Half empty. One or two more with DJ's later in the evening. Again, not rammed with fleadh punters. I saw one funk band playing (good band. I do like me funk!). Now, I get it. Publicans are quite entitled to lay on whatever entertainment they want to pay for, and that they think their punters will enjoy. No argument there. I wonder if many were aware that to make a killing last week, all they really had to do was open the doors and turn off the telly... As an example, we eventually rocked up to Sarsfields. The back room was empty so we sat down for a tune, and within 20 minutes or so there was a gang of about 15 playing and punters started pouring in. 'Getting' the fleadh, if you like. It could have been like that in every nook and cranny in the town, as it has been in every fleadh I've been at.

borderlinemeath wrote: »

Ah, there was a couple of moaners on a facebook thread I was commenting on. Apparently organisers over the past decade or so have sacrificed tradition for high attendance numbers because numbers translate to money.

Bit of a whinger's myth. As I alluded to earlier, Comhaltas don't really make extra cash dependant on numbers. The town does. Disclaimer for clarity: I have nothing to do with CCÉ. I fine organisation, I'm sure, but not really my cupán tae. I've no doubt there's some *ahem* donation made, but that'd (hypothetically) be made by whatever town hosted the event. Comhaltas don't make a cut of every pint or burger sold, or accomodation paid for. The host town does.

borderlinemeath wrote: »

They don't like the direction it's been going and how dare they have the likes of Aslan to appeal to non traditional music fans.

Aslan. Great bunch o' lads, and best of luck to them. Again, the folks I'd be talking about wouldn't be bothered with the big events. They just want to settle in to play music, meet old friends, have a bit of craic, and make memories. Now, speaking personally as somebody who has played the 'gigrig', and had a few friends doing so this year, I'd like to state quite categorically at this stage, that that isn't the issue. I've a great pal playing with Kila, a remarkable band to see live and a group that really get up the purists noses. But you won't find the purists at the Kila gig. They'd be playing or listening down the town somewhere. If they could find anywhere to do so, of course.

borderlinemeath wrote: »

One went so far as to say that it shouldn't evolve and if if traditional music dies out because they are reluctant to move with the times and appeal to wider audiences then it "should die with dignity". Typical Irish cut off your nose to spite your face type stuff. You would swear it's turned into the Eurovision song contest they way they were going on.

It's a valid, if minority opinion. One I wouldn't share, by the way. Again, what I'm talking about has nothing to do with audience. It's to do with just making space available for the fleadh to happen. Drogheda filled those spaced up with big dollops of missing the point.[/QUOTE]

borderlinemeath wrote: »

One of the reasons I hated learning Irish in school was it was always mired in Misery such as Peig Sayers. Some of the moaners reminded me of it!

It's OK. Peig's not on the syllabus any more. You can let that go if you like.

Best of luck to Drogheda next year. I sincerely hope y'all enjoy the hooly.
I could go on, but I have a feeling you wouldn't 'get it'. Perhaps visit whatever town gets it in 2020. Hopefully you'll get to see what I mean.

borderlinemeath

^^^


I'm not much of a pub goer to be fair so I didn't see any of what you're referring to. Pretty much all the music and dance I saw was on the streets, or the gig rig. I did notice from a couple of the places I follow on FB, that they had hired people for the evening sessions, but these weren't town centre pubs, more like the restaurants and gastropubs on the outskirts of town, so they weren't in the thick of things. And speaking to a friend who went to one of them on Sunday night, they were fairly quiet as they didn't get much fleadh traffic.



Walking by the likes of Clarkes, there seemed to be a session on every time I walked by, on three different days. With a 3yr old in tow, it's not all that feasible to be squeezing in and out of pubs, so I couldn't definitively say that they were booked for the fleadh or musicians that found some space. I also follow the Salthouse on social media and they put up a video of a spontaneous lunchtime session, so it was happening in some places.



Aslan are not my thing at all either, I don't see the appeal with them, but they just seemed to be part of the fleadh because they are Irish it seems.

IvoryTower

started in railway on friday, foleys, ocaseys, then onto mcdonnells, all had groups of musicians in every corner. avoided the teeny bopper pubs

endacl

endacl wrote: »

Abba piped onto the streets

In relation to this, I believe The Weavers are the guilty party. They rightly should be beat from one side of West St. to the other for it.


Playing all sorts of bullsiht music loudly onto the street, while musicians, who can barely be heard because of the massive speakers set too high, are busting their bollocks trying to play a tune that's actually in keeping with the event.

Out from that nonsense, during the Fleadh, I don't really mind the pubs going from trad stuff to pop music after 9-10pm if the musicians have begun to call it a night. Rather see the pubs milk it and make a few Euro than knock off for the night. If Justin Beiber or whoever the flavour of the month is nowadays will keep people hanging around, then so be it.


I just think it's arrogant and obnoxious to play that kinda stuff when there's actual musicians trying to do their thing on the street at the same time.

gipi

Over the course of the week I visited Ollie's, The Fairgreen, The Market Bar, Brú and the Railway.

The Railway didn't have live music on the night I was there, but were playing recorded Irish music.
All of the others had "drop-in" sessions going on. The Market Bar had 2, one indoors and one in the beer garden/smoking area. Ollies had musicians at the front and back of the bar - not ideal as they were competing with each other!

I agree with KKV that one pub decided to go their own way and blast out their music, which didn't help the overall atmosphere.

IvoryTower

if that's the case certainly hope someone sets them straight for next year

PGE1970

I'm not a traditional music person. In fact, I hate it and for that reason avoided the town for the entirety of last week.


However, for a pub to be belting out "modern" music whilst the fleadh was on, and particularly if musicians were playing, is an absolute insult and is the height of disrespect to the many volunteers who worked tirelessly to win the fleadh for Drogheda and to stage it last week.


As I say, I didn't attend one event. But I fully appreciate the value of the event to the town and the great advertisement that it is for Drogheda attracting so many people (and national TV) to the town that would simply continue on the M1 otherwise. I would also salute everyone who contributed to it and, even though I'll sit indoors next year too(!), I am pleased that it is back again.


That pub should be deeply embarrassed if what is alleged is true.

dundalkfc10

Was up on the final Sunday and had a great day.

On a downside, The IRA chants when certain songs in diff pubs were being played was a disgrace!

blingrhino

dundalkfc10 wrote: »

Was up on the final Sunday and had a great day.

On a downside, The IRA chants when certain songs in diff pubs were being played was a disgrace!

I think they were singing" ooh aah up the flagh !" in humour .

i intially thought the same as you.

blingrhino

blingrhino wrote: »

I think they were singing" ooh aah up the flagh !" in humour .

i intially thought the same as you.

Haha, I was there on the Saturday night, and they definitely weren't singing "ooh aah up the flagh !"
To be fair though, I had wandered into Fire to get out of the rain.
It was quite entertaining to be honest. There was a big group young lads, 18-20yr olds on the dance floor singing, and then there was an old lad, standing on the edge of the dance floor in a white vest, raising his pint to them, as if to say "The next generation"

As for the Fleadh itself, as someone who lived in Drogheda for a couple of years back in 2010, it was great to see. The town was alive. Unfortunately, it was only the Saturday evening when I made it up there. Supposedly that was one of the worst nights, when most of the crowd just wanted to get drunk, and weren't there for the music.

Will try to return next year, and go midweek

Lashes28

It's a pity the town will be left to rot until next year.. It looked fab over the fleadh and since then there seems to be nobody picking up rubbish.. West street is a mess