Oireachtas countdown

Accommodation scarce as Oireachtas countdown begins

Neill O’Neill

THE organisers of the biggest cultural festival of the year, Oireachtas na Samhna, have appealed for all accommodation providers in the Westport area to contact them if they have any spare rooms.
An estimated crowd of 20,000 is expected to converge on the town for the Halloween festival, but soaring interest has sent the local organising committee into a panic as the demand for accommodation has exceeded all expectations. Visitors planning to attend the festival are now reporting that they are struggling to get beds in Westport for the weekend.
The festival runs from October 30 to November 4 next, and with hotels, B&Bs and available holiday homes in Westport booked solid, organisers, ‘Muintir Chathair na Mart’, have started to send the overflow of people to Castlebar, Newport, Louisburgh and Leenane.
Founded by Conradh na Gaeilge in 1897, An tOireachtas is Ireland’s longest running annual festival and is a celebration of Irish language and culture. The festival presents a mixture of song, music, dance, literature and story-telling, and there are also events and competitions for people of all ages and abilities to indulge themselves. This will be the first ever time the national event has been held in Westport.
As part of the build-up, Westport Tourism Organisation have launched a new bilingual town map to guide visitors attending the Oireachtas festival around the town.
The map contains information on hotels, guesthouses, B&Bs, restaurants, self-catering accommodation facilities and taxi services. It also contains useful Irish phrases which can be used in everyday activities and details on sporting activities that are available in and around the town, as well as information on car parking, toilet facilities and banks.
It is available in all tourism outlets and is free to the public.
The festival is held in a different town every year and attracts widespread national and international attention. This year RTÉ, TG4, BBC and TV3 will all be broadcasting from Westport, covering events such as the opening Halloween parade, the barrel dancing competition on the Saturday afternoon, the all-star concert on the Wednesday evening and the singing competitions that will be running all week.
Accommodation providers with availability and anyone looking for information about the festival are asked to contact Gnó Mhaigh Eo director Mairéad Ní Mhaoilchiaráin at 098 26555.