NYAH Festival 2009

One of the participants on the recent Fáilte Ireland International Field Trip to Leuven was Martin Donohoe who represented the Nyah Co Cavan Traditional Arts festival. Martin is a renowned musician who performs traditional music both in Ireland and abroad. He is one of the driving forces behind the NYAH festival which starts this year on March 11th and builds to a spectacular climax on St Patrick’s Day (March 17th).

This will be the sixth year of the NYAH festival. It has been described as a celebration of all things Cavan. It celebrates the traditional music, song, dance and culture of County Cavan, the Ulster tradition and the county’s very own musical style. Michael Harding, writer calls the Cavan style ‘enigmatic and unpredictable’, claiming that ‘Cavan music is a lace-maker’s music’. And Cavan can lay claim to Ed Reavy, one of the most performed Irish composers in the world.

The NYAH Festival Committee was formed in 2003 to plan and implement a Traditional Arts Festival in County Cavan. The Committee is comprised of individuals with strong backgrounds in traditional music, dance and song who are recognised nationally and internationally.

The NYAH committee are recognised musicians (of national and international note) and have contacts throughout the music industry cementing the NYAH’s potential to as one of the most important music festivals in the Northwest. The NYAH Committee, Comhaltas and other key stakeholders work together to promote, preserve and enhance the traditional arts. The areas of focus are music, dance, song and visual arts. NYAH is an Irish word which refers to the ‘lift’ or soul of artistic (usually musical) expression. The NYAH committee work to identify and preserve local and regional traditional arts as well as embracing new influences from other traditions nationally and internationally, which will have a positive impact on the art forms and on local and tourist participation.

Leuven Tourism Workshop

I was delighted to be one of the people representing Louth at an international tourism workshop in Belgium hosted by Failte Ireland at the Leuven Institute for Ireland in Europe last week. The workshop was open to members of Failte Ireland's Tourism Learning Network which has been in operation for the past three years. It's objective is to help small enterprises in the tourism sector to improve their business performance through a combination of traning and networking activities.

The participants at the workshop were drawn from as far afield as Monaghan, Donegal, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Kerry and Tipperary. They represented all aspects of the tourism industry from crafts, music and heritage, to accommodation, restaurants and outdoor activities.

The centrepiece of the event was a full day workshop by Klaus Kobjoll, from the renowned Schindlerhof hotel near Nuremburg. The hotel grew from humble beginnings starting out as a 400 year old barn in 1988 to a modern 4 star establisnment today. It has been a winner of the European Quality Award and is consistently listed as one of the best places to work in Germany. Mr. Kobjoll is renowned for his unconventional approach to business which focuses on maximising quality, intense customer care and employee empowerment.

The theme of his workshop was "Managing in turbulent times" . The tone of the day was upbeat as he pointed out to us ways in which we could manage and develop our tourism businesses in order to ride out the present difficult trading environment.

The overall feeling from everyone present was that although times may be tough in 2009 there is every reason to be optimistic if we run our enterprises effectively, maximise the experience for our customers and continue to be innovative.

The pictures above show me with Klaus while the other has me with Martin Donohoe from the Nyah Traditional Music Festival in Cavan and Betty Quinn from Millmount Museum in Drogheda.