*David Hillery speaking at Tuesday’s public meeting. Photograph: Tom Micks.
ORGANISERS of Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy were almost hit with a bill of €100,000 to acquire an event licence and pay a management company to run the festival.
Publican David Hillery revealed at a community meeting on Tuesday that the hugely successful week-long music festival and summer school in Miltown Malbay was at risk of being crippled by costs that may have stopped its fifty fourth run from proceeding.
Discussions have been ongoing between Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy organisers, Clare County Council and An Garda Síochána since the hugely successful 2025 festival.
This has resulted in the formation of Coiste Phobail Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy, a community group comprised of less than ten people that have brokered a new arrangement on parking, traffic management and the addition of extra portaloos in Miltown Malbay for the duration of the festival.
Dr Billy O’Connell is the Chairman of the new group, he acknowledged that “traffic management has become an issue for Clare County Council and An Garda Síochána” and that there has been “a lot of communication with them” over recent months.
After presenting a blueprint to the County Council on how Willie Clancy week could continue, the potential of a €100,000 bill for organisers emerged. Hillery recalled, “We were asked to attend a meeting in Ennistymon to present formally to them as a blueprint, from there Clare County Council were going to go towards and event licence and ask Miltown Malbay to acquire an event licence. In order to acquire an event licence, you’ve to go through a rigorous process and spend up to €100,000 on a management company and that wasn’t going to happen for Miltown Malbay because nobody wanted a €100,000 bill around our necks”.
When the blueprint was presented to elected members of the Council and staff within the West Clare Municipal District, “it was looked favourably on and they invested in Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy,” he added. “The County Council has come up trumps with sourcing of barricades, footing the bill for portaloos and mapping out the new car park for the week”.
To successfully operating these plans, “we need volunteers to act as ambassadors for the week and help out on what is needed to be done,” David stated. “Clare County Council pledged to invest a substantial amount of money into the project but wanted a working group to assemble,” he explained. This led to the formation of Coiste Phobail Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy.
Senior executive officer with Clare County Council, John O’Malley told Tuesday’s public meeting, “This is a stepping stone. We’ve eight or nine people on the committee, anybody else is welcome to join”. He noted that public liability “was a concern” and confirmed that the Council will be providing public liability insurance for Mary Cleary’s field which will serve as a car park for 220 cars during the festival.
