SOCIAL DANCING returns to Newmarket-on-Fergus Community Hall this Saturday, five decades on from when it first started at the same location.
Following a €450,000 refurbishment of the Community Hall, a bill of €100,000 is left to be paid with the Board of Directors responsible for the Community Centre turning to dance in a bid to cover the final costs. The fifteen year loan of €100,00 has been provided by Community Finance Ireland but the nine-person Board are anxious to repay this as quickly as possible.
Two dances have been scheduled for the venue, the first takes place this Saturday (April 9th) from 9pm to midnight with Sean Boland providing the music. There is a capacity of 100 with tickets selling on the door at €10.
Tom Casey was involved when the marquees were first held in Newmarket-on-Fergus in the early 1970s, he has got back in the swing of things after seeing a notice in the parish newsletter compiled by Mary Power, that the €100,000 bill remains.
In the 70s, Tom had the task of booking marquees and the bands, after hosting three marquees it was decided a community hall could be built, this was greatly aided by a generous donation from Mrs Higgins whose late son Paul operated the popular Weavers Inn in the village, “it was one the greatest donations given to Newmarket-on-Fergus parish,” Casey reflected of the land given where the hall is now situated.
Five marquees were ran one after another with crowds in excess of 1000 attending, by the time the fifth was held, the community hall had been built and with it a space for the community to be proud of. The committee at the time was chaired by Fr Tim Tuohy with Mary Kennedy the secretary and Fergus Marren the treasurer. “The community hall is going since, it is used for bingo and you name it”. Other uses included, karate, hip hop, Zumba, the Tradaree Bridge Club, the Baby and Me Music and Dance plus the long-running beavers, cubs and scouts.
“We want to see if we can get social dancing going in Newmarket-on-Fergus for next winter,” former local election candidate, Tom explained. “The real objective is to run these social dances and see can we have them in the future,” Ger Fahy of the Board of Directors outlined, he acknowledged the support of the community to date.
Ger explained that Corofin’s social dances held every Friday night are proving very successful in funding its equivalent hall. “We met them and had a good chat, they were very open and honest with us which was very helpful”. In his ten years involved, Ger can only recall Crystal Swing being an act for a dance but he is hopeful the social dancing could spring a new lease of life into the refreshed hall.
Organisers are hopeful of capitalising on the weekly crowds that would have attended dances in The Bellsfort Inn, the venue owned by the Fitzgerald family and located in Stonehall has not reopened since the pandemic.
