One thing is clear: the Fleadh is the best thing that has happened in Belfast since John Hume’s and David Trimble’s jig with Bono in May 1998. This festival has brought music, art, and culture to hundreds of thousands over a single week and let us not forget the tens of thousands of pints of Guinness that have been consumed. This has shown Belfast and its people in a new light: welcoming, respectful of differences and fun. Talent was displayed by all ages playing pipes, banjos, fiddles, flutes, bodhrán, and tabla with Irish Trad music in the air. The Ulster Bands Showcase took place at the Titanic Slipways on Thursday evening as part of Fleadh. This broke new ground and showed a section of our community who were proud to display their Ulster Scots heritage and music. On Sunday the 9th, the Shankill Road Defender Flute Band played on the main Gig Rig to a welcoming, appreciative, and enthusiastic crowd. In addition, the Lambeg drum was not banged in anger but added to our cultural landscape. Also, thanks to Arts Ekta for showcasing a multicultural musical event called Connections at the Fleadh
Whinging Jamie Bryson and his likes should learn something from this and get over the siege mentality embedded by middle-class and privileged unionists over generations.
I visited the event on two days and took in the joyful spirit, meeting and talking to people I probably will never meet again. One family man from somewhere in the 26 counties was in Belfast for the first time and was blown away by the spectacle, and ended the conversation by saying, ” See you next year”. I bumped into visitors from across the world who were overwhelmed and overjoyed by this showcase event.
My son Ethan went to Fleadh on 7 consecutive nights with a cross-section of his friends, and on one night, on his return home, he talked like a washing machine and raved about the event. He has been renamed Eamon because he came home with his Fleadh headband across his forehead.
I will remember this last week as the time when the people took back ownership of “their city” and, for the first time in my lifetime, your narrow identity was put on the back burner in the interest of what we have in common. Newton Emerson asked why the 12th cannot be more like the Fleadh , unfortunately, the boys in orange do what it says on the tin.
The Fleadh started in 1951 in Mullingar, then a quite different Ireland than today. Next year the Fleadh Cheoil, meaning festival of music, should do a bit more to reflect the new Ireland in all its diversity. I will suggest a new strapline for 2027:
OUR FLEADH, BY ALL OUR PEOPLE, FOR ALL PEOPLE
Can’t wait till August 2027
Suneil Sharma
11th August 2026
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