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After winning standing ovations from here to the US and beyond, the Cross-Border Orchestra of Ireland is now under serious financial pressure, writes Arminta Wallace

ON A SUNDAY afternoon the campus of the Dundalk Institute of Technology is a tranquil place. In the background are the Cooley Mountains and, beyond, the Mournes. The horizon of the campus itself is dominated by a wind turbine which generates some 60 per cent of the college’s electricity needs as it turns in a slow, majestic circle. Inside the college’s theatre building, however, all is hustle and bustle and excited chatter. In a corridor, young people are lined up clutching passports plus blue forms and green forms. A young man wearing a Hendrix T-shirt hurries past, a trombone tucked under his elbow. Around the corner, a girl is doing twirly cheerleader-type things with a set of drumsticks.