Cavan is facing tough competition for Fleadh 2012

Cavan is facing tough competition from Ennis and Sligo to be the host town for Fleadh 2012. As the big cleanup for Fleadh 2011 was underway yesterday, County Manager Jack Keyes confirmed that Cavan had submitted a bid to host the All-Ireland fleadh for a third year in a row. He told The Anglo-Celt yesterday that it was difficult to know what Cavan's chances are. Mr Keyes noted that of the 31 Comhaltas council delegates eligible to vote, many of those had allegiances to their own provinces. He also pointed to the strong bids submitted by Ennis and Sligo. "It's most unusual to have three strong bids and Sligo and Ennis are towns with great Irish traditions. The competition is more intense than it has ever been in the history of the fleadh," he said. Mr Keyes also pointed out that "the norm" in most cases was to host the fleadh for just two years, although Tullamore did have it for three. However, in Cavan's favour, Mr Keyes said that the county town had hosted "two very successful fleadhs" and the Fleadh Executive Committee has "very innovative plans" for next year. Reflecting on the success of this year's fleadh, Mr Keyes thanked all those responsible noting that the fleadh was "the second most tweeted" thing on Twitter over the weekend. He said that the FEC has the support of the business community locally in its bid for Fleadh 2012 and already had significant sponsorship pledged. Meanwhile, Garry Lynch, a delegate to the Ard Comhairle of CCÉ and one of those with a vote - told The Anglo-Celt this week Cavan has the support of the three Ulster delegates and the three UK delegates, as well as the majority of the eight national delegates. Those votes alone count for 14 - meaning Cavan would just need a handful to get over the line. Also speaking to The Anglo-Celt, Labhras Ó Murchú, director-general of CCÉ, had the highest praise for Cavan. "I must say you have had everything at this Fleadh," he said. Mr Ó Murchú said he was confident that this year's Fleadh had way surpassed the €35m figure achieve last year. There was a much more extensive programme this year and all the accommodation was virtually booked out, he said. "The attention to detail by the organisers here in Cavan has been superb - every place you go you can pick up a leaflet - see a poster and you know where you are going - that is very important. The second thing I notice from last year is that people are even more prepared with things like food - and it was excellent last year," said Mr Ó Murchú. Crime-free fleadh Meanwhile, the local Gardaí have said that although there were close on 300,000 people in Cavan for the fleadh over the past week, the event went off without any serious crime taking place. There were a number of minor public order matters with 14 arrests made but according to Sergeant Frank Harten "we were able to cope with everything". Overall, he said, it was relatively quiet for such a major event and everyone was well behaved. There were sufficient numbers of gardaí on duty at all times and between them and the stewards the fleadh was well marshalled. "We did have garda air support at the weekend, which also helped," said Sgt Harten. The planning paid off and there were no major delays. Traffic kept flowing and there were no problems with people getting to the various venues around the town. Sgt Harten was delighted that everything went ahead without incident or fatalities or serious injury. "We are very happy with the way everything went and I would like to thank everyone for their co-operation." He hoped the town would be successful in its bid to stage the fleadh in 2012. In the opinion of Cavan Mayor Paddy O'Reilly this year's event exceeded last year. "The crowd began to arrive early this time round and remained in the town." The whole event was meticulously organised and great credit was due to the organising fleadh committee under the leadership of County Manager Jack Keyes. The whole event was just amazing, said Cllr O'Reilly. "It was fabulous advertising for the town and the county."