By Anne Geaghan
The 24th annual Crawley Irish Festival took place in scorching temperatures and with packed entertainment programme at The Hawth Theatre last Sunday.
Chairman of the Crawley Celtic & Irish Cultural Society John Nolan welcomed Ireland’s Ambassador Adrian O’Neill and his wife Aisling and thanked Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for its continued financial support for the event which will be 25 years old next year.
He also thanked local sponsors, Coinford, FDL, J Devine and Killoughery.
Ambassador O’Neill spoke of his pride in seeing the warm welcome to people of all backgrounds which he thought especially appropriate for such a multi-cultural community as Crawley.
John Nolan also welcomed Mayor of Crawley Cllr. Raj Sharma who, with his wife Mayoress Bhavna, received huge applause for his continued strong support for the festival and strong relationship with the local Irish community.
The Mayor encouraged people to enjoy the festival’s Irish music, song and dance and remarked on the many similarities between it and his own Indian heritage.
Other special guests introduced to the crowd included the manager of the Irish Cultural Centre Hammersmith David O’Keeffe who echoed Ambassador O’Neill’s sentiments, and Crawley’s own local UK-Irish sporting hero, the Paralympian gold medallist Katie George Dunleavy.
Among the many acts on the day were Paul Stanworth, Natasha Magee, Track Dogs, Blackstairs Rebel, Strawdogs, Chris O’Malley, and headliner Don Mescall and his band.
There was Irish dancing by dancers from the local Ace Academy and Ideal Performing Arts in East Sussex.
Air conditioning meant they were untroubled by the record-breaking hot temperatures.
MC duties were performed by Gerry Molumby outside and Patrick O’Connell inside the theatre.
