Ballyhoura Comhaltas among Limerick grant recipients

Limerick City and County Council voted this week to approve a number of allocations to the Arts, including €1,000 for the Ballyhoura Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann (BCCE).

While the vote was carried, it was met with some criticism, most notably from Cllr Michael Collins, who felt that the list was not distributed equally throughout Limerick. In total there were 27 successful applicants - 44 had applied. Of the 27, 21 were based in the Limerick Metropolitan area, five were from the Cappamore/Kilmallock area, and one from the NewcastlewWest District.

However, speaking for the council Gordon Daly said that applications were assessed by an independent panel, with no regards to where the group were based. The executive of the council encouraged councillors to distribute and publicise grant schemes to expand the numbers applying.

As well as the Ballyhoura Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann (BCCE), other recipients in the Cappamore/Kilmallock District were the Castleconnell-Ahane-Herbertstown CCÉ who received €975 and the Drombanna Community Singers, who also got €1,000. Two artists were the recipients of funds: Niamh Schmidtke, who received €300 and Stephanie Deady, who received €500. While the West Limerick Singing Club in Newcastle West received €800.

In total there were 27 successful applicants, receiving funding totalling €20,000.