More than 500 line dancers from throughout Ireland were stepping it out in Jackson’s Hotel in Ballybofey last weekend when the Western Dance Association of Ireland held their All-Ireland finals.
This was the first occasion that the Association have held their national finals in Donegal and the event proved a great boon to the entire area, with all Hotels and bed and breakfast and catering establishments booked out for the entire weekend.
The Western Dance Association of Ireland was formed in 1998 and has been running the All Ireland Line Dance competition every year since. This year they chose Donegal as their venue and the organisers were highly complementary of the facilities and the welcome afforded them.
Helen Doris, the principal organiser, said the two day event was one of their most successful ever and the 500 dancers who took to the floor in the new Finn Suite in the Hotel were high in their praise of the real Donegal “cead mile failte” afforded to them and the estimated two hundred supporters accompanying them.
“Everyone had a great time in Ballybofey over the weekend. We had seven judges, three of them coming from the United Kingdom and Sweden who praised the high standard on offer. They commented that the dancing was of the highest degree and socially, everyone had a great time”, Doris commented.
Line Dancing is a competitively new phenomena in the North West but is gaining in popularity all the time. It was notable over the weekend that many of the competitors and supporters were teenagers, both male and female, although quite a number were older.
“Line Dancing is a great way of expressing dance in a relaxing manner and is suitable for all age groups. It has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decade or so and the resurgence of country and western music over the past decade has meant that those taking part now have a tremendous outlet for it” a representative for the Association concluded.
