The landmark Greville Arms Hotel received a huge boost in recurring business from Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2022, according to John Cochrane, one of the longest standing hotel managers in the Midlands.
He said tourists are visiting Mullingar in numbers like they’ve never had before and are coming from far and wide.
“We’ve had a huge amount of positive feedback from people all over the country and abroad. It’s obvious to us the effect it’s had on tourism locally.
“Huge numbers have visited us since, they come for two or three days, and they all have positive feedback because Mullingar put on such a great show last year,” said John.
Two famous faces also made a surprise visit to the hotel on the Saturday of the Fleadh:
“We were very lucky that Niall Horan and Lewis Capaldi paid a visit to us last year, it was a huge surprise for us and created a real buzz around the place,” said John.
“We have Niall’s Brit Award on display here in the foyer and on any particular day we have people coming in to see that – we have a family from California today even.
“We also had a group from France and it’s a huge attraction for Mullingar. Niall and his family have been great to the town. They’re lovely people too.”
He added that “four or five” families per day are coming in to the Greville Arms Hotel everyday to look at their Niall Horan memorabilia.
The hotel will bring back their ‘Fleadh Village’ to this years event, following its success last year.
This will include outdoor bars, tents and a stage with live performances lined up every single day.
“There will be entertainment every evening, free of charge. We have three different bands every day and they’ll be playing all sorts of music,” said John.
“We’ll also have casual sessions all over the hotel every day, last year we had at least four on the go at any one time and will be hoping for the same again.”
Food will be available all day at the hotel, beginning from 7.30am in the morning to 10pm in the evening, including carvery dinners, restaurant food, and burgers in the Fleadh Village.
