Irish dancers take solace from ‘extra precautions’ at Killarney competition

More than 2,000 dancers from across Ireland and the world have taken part in Oireachtas Rince na hEireann at the INEC in Killarney, Co Kerry, which finished this weekend. “After a challenging period, the spirit and solidarity of the Irish dancing community has come to the fore throughout the week,” a spokeswoman said in Killarney, referring to allegations against judges of competition fixing.

Practical measures to tackle the allegations that rocked the Irish dance world last autumn included an increase in the number of judges. The normal panel of five judges was increased to seven with an eighth judge added to the solo round. Judges, like dancers, were drawn from not just Ireland but also the UK, US and Canada.

After almost 100 years of An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG) the global reach of the Irish dance movement was evident, with winners from Poland and Argentina on Friday. Participants were reluctant to talk about the dance fixing scandals but acknowledged the toll it had taken.

Nicole Jaconetty was availing of a leg treatment new to the dance world in between the hard and soft shoe legs of the senior ladies competition on Saturday morning.

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The 30-year-old political consultant from Chicago has been dancing for 25 years and was hoping her stint in Killarney would help her qualify for the World Championships in Montreal in April.

The numbers competing in the senior ladies competition – over the age of 21 but with no upper limit – have increased in the past decade with150 competing in Killarney.

“The last ten years have become a lot more competitive at senior level,” Ms Jaconetty said.

She said dancing helped her to focus. “It grounds you,” she said. “Mentally it’s good for you.”

Last year she competed in Belfast, where her maternal grandfather, Bill Hamill, emigrated from a century ago. Asked about the scandals that have rocked the Irish dancing world, Ms Jaconetty was reluctant to talk about it.

She said some acquaintances had advised her to walk away from dancing. “It’s not that easy,” she said. “With older dancers, we just like to dance. We just want to dance.”

The toll the sport takes on competitors was evident. A sign directed participants upstairs to the First Aid and dressingroom. One young lady received treatment after snapping her Achilles tendon in a jig on stage on Friday. She attended CUH and will be out of action for months, forcing her to miss the World Championships in Montreal in April.

Some availed of a treatment reportedly popular with Tipperary hurlers. For €20, competitors could aid recovery by wearing Niall O’Farrell’s “wellness and recovery” air pump boots, which push blood from the bottom to the top of the leg. Nenagh-based O’Farrell is more accustomed to treating GAA players but was “busy all week” and is now considering travelling to the World Championships in Montreal in April.

Herman O’Driscoll, who hails from Sherkin Island, was accompanying his daughter Aoibhín (23). A member of the Troy O’Herlihy School of Dancing in Ballincollig, Ms O’Driscoll, who works with Irish Gas Networks, acknowledged the allegations had upset people in the dancing world.

“But a lot of precautions have been put in to preserve the safety of dancing,” her father said. “I am happy with that.”