Former President of Ireland Mary McAleese is set to launch a new seven-year plan for the body dedicated to promoting Irish music, dance, and language, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.
Comhaltas' 2030 Prospectus aims to enhance the organization's presence on the island of Ireland, building on the achievements it has made in the 70 years since its foundation by continuing to restore and revive Irish cultural traditions.
It also aims to build on the impact Comhaltas has as a national and international movement. Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann is the primary organization dedicated to the promotion of Irish music, song, dance, and language and is responsible for organizing the annual Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann.
McAleese will launch the prospectus - themed "Connecting Communities Through Our Culture" - at the ongoing Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Mullingar. The week-long Fleadh is expected to bring more than half a million visitors to Mullingar and raise more than €50 million for the local economy.
McAleese noted the cultural importance of the Fleadh in a statement to mark the launch of the new prospectus, adding that the prospectus would make Irish culture accessible to people from all backgrounds.
"Comhaltas is not just about the musical instruments, the competitions, the dancing or story-telling or singing or the Irish language - it is fundamentally about sharing them, extending the love of them to the audiences, befriending one another, building communities of mutual love of Irish culture whether in Belfast or Boston, Dublin or Dubai, Mullingar or Moscow, Scotland or Sydney," McAleese said in a statement.
"Who will ever forget the triumph of the first All-Ireland Fleadh to be held north of the border? It brought almost half a million people of all sorts of politics and differing perspectives into each other’s orbit in the beautiful simple way that only the best of music and dance can.
"Happy memories of being entertained yes, but being welcomed most of all, lodged deeply into hearts once perplexed by questions of how to transcend the borders and barriers of a baleful history."
Comhaltas President Éamonn Ó hArgáin said the new prospectus has the potential to be "one of the most significant cultural programs in the history of the island".
“'Connecting Communities Through Our Culture', not only describes where we are as a global organization, but it is the blueprint through which Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann reflect on who we are, where we have been over the past 70 years and where we want to be in 2030 in relation to our role in protecting Ireland's rich cultural traditions," Ó hArgáin said in a statement.
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