ORGANISERS OF the traditional music event Feis Ceoil have expressed fears for the future of the festival because of a shortage of sponsorship and funding.
The 112-year-old festival is an established feature on the classical musical calendar and is one of the biggest competitions of its kind in Europe.
However, the conclusion of a 22 year long sponsorship deal with engineering conglomerate Siemens last year has left the event without one of its major sources of capital and despite the best efforts of the organising committee, a replacement has not yet been found.
Feis Ceoil administrator Carmel Byrne yesterday told The Irish Times that the annual event is currently struggling to meet the bills and its organising costs.
"Through donations, entries fees and smaller sponsorship we can only generate three quarters of the cost of the event, but I'm afraid we simply cannot go on without finding a new title sponsor," she said.
Ms Byrne said Feis Ceoil had applied for Government funding but that it had not been successful in previous years on account of its long-running sponsorship deal with Siemens.
Ms Byrne was speaking at the launch of this year's Feis, which takes place at the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) from March 3rd to 14th.
The festival will feature more than 4,000 performers from across the country, some as young as eight-years-old, competing in 177 events.
"It is all classical music - choirs, instruments and soloists. This year some of the entrants are competing for attractive bursaries that are worth up to €10,000," she said.
Feis Ceoil was founded in 1896 by the chief representatives of music activity in Ireland to counteract the neglect of music development in the country.
Since then, the event has been responsible for launching the careers of many of the country's best-known classical musicians, including John McCormack, Bernadette Greevy, Ronan Tynan and Cora Venus Lunny.
Further information about this year's Feis Ceoil is available online from www.feisceoil.com
