A popular festival which attracted up to 25,000 people every May to the grounds of the Museum of Country Life at Turlough Park, near Castlebar, Co Mayo, has fallen victim to Government cutbacks.
Museum keeper Tony Candon said Féile na Tuaithe will not go ahead next year. The summer festival, held for the past seven years, had established itself as a key cultural event in the west of Ireland. Mr Candon said the decision to cancel next year’s event was a direct result of the budgetary situation at the National Museum of Ireland.
He added: “Staff have expressed shock and disappointment at the news. The general sense is that this is going to be a very big loss not just to the local community around Turlough and Castlebar but to the wider community in the west of Ireland and beyond.”