Global Irish Festival Series 2021 funding announced for Kerry and Mayo

Global Irish Festival Series 2021 funding announced for Kerry and Mayo


Looking ahead to 2021, Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Brendan Griffin and Minister of State for the Diaspora and International Development, Ciaran Cannon today announced funding of up to €100k each for Kerry County Council and Mayo County Council through the Global Irish Festival Series. The Global Irish Festival Series is a joint initiative between Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to provide funding and support, through relevant local authorities, for events that tap into international diaspora networks to help attract overseas visitors.

The festival series is part of the National Tourism Development Authority’s recovery strategy for the tourism industry which will feed into the work of the Tourism Recovery Taskforce recently established by Ministers Shane Ross and Brendan Griffin.

Both Kerry and Mayo County Councils will receive funding to develop events to encourage Ireland’s diaspora to visit Ireland once the COVID-19 public health emergency passes.

Announcing the Global Irish Festival Series funding for Kerry and Mayo, Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Brendan Griffin, said:

“This is a hugely difficult and anxious time for the tourism industry, but it is important that we look ahead. The Global Irish Festival Series will enable local communities in Kerry and Mayo to build on their diaspora networks and deepen connections around the world that will help to generate tourism activity next year.”

In Kerry, the Global Irish Festival Series will support Kerry County Council’s An Turas Mór – The Journey Home festival, with up to €100k in funding. The festival will include a month-long heritage programme of special thematic events designed in collaboration with existing festivals in Kerry, including a series of participative GAA events throughout October 2021.

Minister of State for the Diaspora and International Development, Ciaran Cannon, added:

“In the face of the global challenge posed by COVID-19, it is important for us to re-affirm our sense of solidarity and common identity. The Global Irish Festival Series is an important part of reinforcing the connections between Ireland and our diaspora. We will work with our partners in Fáilte Ireland and the local communities in Mayo and Kerry to strengthen their deep connection with the diaspora.”   

In Mayo, the Global Irish Festival Series will support Mayo Country Council’s Home to Mayo festival, with up to €100k in funding. The festival will include a month-long programme of events incorporating existing festivals along with cultural events and participatory experiences across ‘emigration’ towns in the county throughout May 2021.

Speaking about the importance of festival series, Fáilte Ireland’s Head of Festivals, Ciara Sugrue, said:

“We are delighted to work with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade once again on the Global Irish Festival Series as we look at rebuilding the tourism industry and the vital contributions it makes to Irish society. The festivals and events supported through the series will help drive tourism to specific locations, including regional areas outside of current hotspots, creating new economic benefits for local communities and this will be hugely important as we move into the recovery phase of the COVID-19 crisis.”


The Global Irish Festival Series will take place in 2021 on the Wild Atlantic Way in the new locations of Mayo and Kerry, alongside Limerick and Donegal where the festival series has taken place since it was launched as a pilot initiative in 2018.

The Global Irish Festival Series is funded by Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

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