By Paddy McCarthy
What a day I had at the Long Island Irish Fest that was held on Sunday at Plattdeutsch Park in Franklin Square; what a blast it was. First of all, it was sponsored by The Ancient Order of Hibernians of Nassau County. The festival was a day of Irish music and dancing, featuring some of the top international Irish bands, like the great Andy Cooney and his band, McLean Avenue, and the Screaming Orphans and local acts such as Harper’s Ferry and the Galway Boys.
It was replete with traditional Irish music, including a session area, dancers and pipe bands, as well as headline acts. It’s an Irish tradition that since it’s a Sunday, Mass was celebrated at 11 am before the festival began. The day centers around Irish tradition and the sponsors were looking to raise awareness of their culture and history. Along with the Nassau County Feis, it was thought that this festival will be the ultimate compliment to their cause.
I went there with an open mind as to how this festival would proceed and let me tell it was one of the most professional events that I have been at for a long time. I have been involved with concerts and festivals in Ireland and let me tell you, this one stands out at the top of the list and I can see that it will go from strength to strength. You know the old saying, build it and they will come and boy did they come as there were a couple of thousand people who turned up to enjoy a real Irish festival. To see all those families all enjoying themselves was a joy for me to watch and I can see this in the future turning into a two-day event as it was just fabulous and the music was just brilliant along with the Irish step dancers.
The beautiful thing about this festival was you get to meet and greet a lot of old friends and new friends that again because of the pandemic you have not seen for a very long time and that in itself was just wonderful. The most important part of it all was that the atmosphere was electric and you could see and feel the happiness in the audience at this festival. All I can say right now is roll on 2022 and I am so sure the planning is already started. So again, congratulations to everybody that was involved specially all the volunteers, you all did a great job!
The Irish Business Organization will welcome the new Consul General Helena Nolan to New York this Wednesday (October 20th) and I will be there as well. The new Consul General was born in Kilkenny, Ireland and joined Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs in 1990, after an initial 7 years in the Department of Education. Over the course of her career, Helena has held a wide number of roles at home and overseas, most recently serving as Ireland’s Ambassador to Belgium and the Partnership for Peace Liaison Office (2017-2021). Prior to her appointment to this role, Helena served as Director for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation in the Department’s headquarters in Dublin and was a regular visitor to the UN here in New York. She has also served in London, Armagh, Kuala Lumpur and Dar Es Salaam, as well as working in the Departments of Education and Enterprise and the Office of Science and Technology. She took up duty as Consul General of Ireland in New York on August 26th. Helena and her husband Sami have two sons.
Here we have another huge event that just started, it’s the Aisling Irish Community and Cultural Center’s celebration of their 25th anniversary. They will be running a 6 Week to 6K Walk/Run Challenge in partnership with Clann Health! It started on Monday, September 13th and they invite you to log on and join them from anywhere in the world for this fun and exciting health challenge. Once registered, you will be given expert training, guidance, and support to help you reach Week 6 successfully! All proceeds will support the redevelopment of the Aisling Center.
Chairman of the New York Saint Patrick’s Day Parade Hilary Beirne was there to give his full support.
Visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/aisling-irish-community-center-25-year-celebration-6-weeks-to-6k-event-tickets-159525225243?aff=AICC for more details on how to participate and be sure to visit their website at www.aislingcenter.org.
See you all again when I’m Out&About…