Belfast Fleadh: Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann begins

Michelle Downey from the Downey Group said businesses have been gearing up and working to get ready for the big week.

“Fleadh fever has arrived in Belfast,” she said.

“We are planning for St Patrick’s Day every day for eight days, so if that happens it will be fantastic.”

John Lavery of Fish City said you “could feel the excitement in the air” and that there was a “vibrancy” in Belfast.

He said he had put “substantial” investment in place, and had spent “tens of thousands of pounds getting ready for this”.

“It needs to be successful,” he added.

Emily Sparling, of Peter Keegan’s Bar in Belfast, said it had made a £60,000 investment and had 25 extra staff “across the board” for the event.

“Preparations have been good, we have just loaded around 100 kegs of Guinness in, so we are ready,” she said.

“We are expecting a very big week, everyone is buzzing, can’t wait.”

Dominic Lavery from Lavery’s Bar said that planning for the event had taken “five or six months”.

“There are going to be hundreds and hundreds of people through here through the fleadh, we are buzzing to be here,” he said.

“From Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday hopefully it will feel like your normal Saturday night, and from then on it’s going to be like Paddy’s day on steroids for the duration.”