A group representing Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann travelled to New York with the aim of putting this summer’s upcoming Fleadh “in the shop window for the Irish communities in the United States”.
Bartley Gavin, Chair of Fleadh Cheoil 2015, described the aims of the four day trip last week as “to raise awareness of Fleadh 2015 among the sizable Irish communities in New York, to strengthen business and tourism links with the Sligo communities there, and to celebrate several screenings of the Fleadh film, The Sligo Masters, which took place at locations throughout the city over a number of days.”
The delegation was comprised of President of Comhaltas Vince Jordan, Director of Finance of Fleadh 2015 Peter Farrell, Chair of Sligo County Board of Comhaltas Máirtín Enright, Director of The Sligo Masters documentary Micheál ” Domhnaill, and Mr Gavin.
The whistle-stop trip saw them conduct meetings with the new Consul General of New York, Barbara Jones, with a high level delegation representing Tourism Ireland, and with members of The New York-Sligo Association, all with the aims of promoting Sligo and the Fleadh.
“The meetings with the Consul and with Tourism Ireland were really beneficial,” said Mr. Gavin.
“We had an in-depth meeting with a group which included Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland Alison Melcalfe and her team. We made a presentation to them outlining key information and data from the successful Fleadh in 2014, underlining the importance of gaining their support this year’s Fleadh throughout the United States.”
There is a full two page spread on the Fleadh’s trip to New York in this week’s Sligo Weekender.
