Organisers of the ‘Mise Éire’ festival scheduled to take place in Drumshanbo on August 23rd, have confirmed that the event will go ahead on that date in a new location close to Castlebar, and say that hundreds of tickets have already been sold for the new venue.
“The festival will be a day out to celebrate Irish culture and heritage, it’s a family-friendly event, with music and talks. We have musicians coming from all over the country, and we have workshops and discussions,” Stephen Kerr said, adding that the organisers were delighted to have found a new site for the festival.
In relation to the cancellation of the Mayflower booking in Drumshanbo, Mr Kerr said that, although the organisers of the festival senses that once a “cancel mob was gathering steam” there was always a risk with the booking, it was “disappointing to see the Mayflower Committee back down before online bullying with most of it coming from people who aren’t from Leitrim at all.”
He said that it was their view that the spirit of the contract with the Mayflower Community Centre had been upheld, and that the festival organisers did not accept the Mayflower’s claim that the terms and conditions were breached.
The centre said this week that the festival would not go ahead in the venue due to “terms and conditions not being met by the organisers.”
Mise Éire was billed as a music and folk festival for “those who cherish Irish culture, heritage, and are united in celebrating our shared values” – and Mr Kerr told Gript that he believes many of those who signed the petition to cancel the event booking should come to the festival and see what was actually taking place for themselves.
“I find it inexplicable that people signed a petition seeking to close down a festival about Irish culture,” he said. “I’m not sure what they were told would be happening at the Mise Éire event but if they came to festival they would have seen it for themselves, they might have changed their minds. What’s divisive about workshops on the Irish language or a talk on Brehon law, or a discussion about Irish heritage?”.
He said that some of those who campaigned to have the festival cancelled were “bullies who want to shut down free speech”. And he was sharply critical of rap group, Kneecap, for signing the cancel petition, saying that they “championed their own right to free speech” but “have used their fame, influence and establishment funds to punch down on a very small Irish cultural and musical event.”
“Too many people are full of talk about diversity, but they won’t tolerate any diversity of opinion at all,” Mr Kerr said, adding that the accusation of Mise Éire being a “far-right” festival was “ludicrous”.
“The truth is that a lot of those who are most shrill in their denunciations of anyone who agrees with them are the people who are so full of hate,” he said. He had earlier slammed the “shocking illustrations have been issued depicting us as nazis and savages in what can only be described as propaganda reminiscent of British 19th century anti Irish depictions.”
Mr Kerr said that “entirely false” claims had been made by left-wing activists online, and was sharply critical of local media who he said had “given a megaphone to a small group of extremists” and had denied the organisers of the festival “a fair shout”.
“These people don’t believe in free speech, but even more than that, some of them resort to violence instead of debating. One of the main spokespeople to have this festival cancelled was recently convicted of assaulting someone whose political opinions she disagreed with,” he said. “But the media ignored that, and repeatedly quoted false claims that this was to be a ‘far-right’ festival.”
He said that “very talented musicians were taking part” and that workshops included “a discussion as Gaeilge on the issues facing the country” in addition to a class for beginners learning Gaeilge.”
“There’s a seanchaí coming, and workshops on public speaking, and lots of other interesting things taking place including a talk on Brehon law,” he said.
He said that Kevin Flanagan of the Brehon Law academy was a guest speaker at the Mise Éire festival – and that Ocean FM had issued an apology to Mr Flanagan after a left-wing activist had defamed him on air, falsely implying that he was associated with “holocaust denial” and “anti LGBTQ+ views”. The station “sincerely apologised to Mr Flanagan for any distress or reputational harm caused.”
Mr Kerr said that a new venue had been found for the Mise Éire festival and that hundreds of tickets had already been sold.
He said that the festival was not focused on the immigration issue, but added that “it was becoming increasingly unacceptable to the public to falsely use a ‘far-right’ tag simply to shut down debate”.
“Everyone is talking about immigration now, its a huge issue, people can see this huge change happening in front of us and they feel that this change is happening without any consultation or debate,” he said. Mr Kerr, who garnered more than 3,500 votes in the 2024 election said up to 1,000 migrants had been placed into Breaffy, a village with 1,000 locals where he lives.
However , Leitrim councillor Brendan Barry told the Leitrim Observer that the Mise Éire festival should never have been booked in the first place.
“This event has caused massive division already, and it hasn’t taken place at all yet, and that is very regrettable. And in my opinion, that alone shows the possible division and fear and hate that it could have caused had it went ahead,” the councillor told the paper.
However, the decision to cancel the booking in Drumshanbo was criticised by supporters of free speech including journalist Mary Kenny who said: “Someone should teach liberals that you can dislike something, disapprove of it, even condemn it – without banning or censoring it. Opinion is free; repression of opinion is dangerous”.
Others pointed to what they saw as the hypocrisy of some of those who signed the petition to cancel the festival, given previously expressed free speech concerns.
Commentator Melissa Ciummei said it was an example of Irish artists cancelling Irish culture, and accused some of those involved of “woke nationalism”.
“You don’t have to agree with everything being said, but when festivals are shut down for celebrating heritage, tradition, and national pride, we’ve got a problem,” she said. “Kneecap and Christy Moore reportedly signed a letter that led to the cancellation of Mise Éire, a cultural event rooted in Irish music, identity, and sovereignty. Why? Because someone decided it was “far-right. Sound familiar? It should. Section 31 banned Sinn Féin voices from the airwaves “for your safety.” Now, it’s not government censorship…it’s peer-led, cultural blacklisting.”
Author and campaigner Máiría Cahill wrote “Kneecap signs letter asking Mayflower to stop a music festival called “Mise Eire” going ahead in venue. Whatever about who organised the festival or who it benefits, isn’t it hypocritical to complain about censorship while supporting censoring others?”
Some activists, however, welcomed the cancellation of the festival booking, accusing it of being a ‘far-right’ event and saying community centres should not be free to take such bookings.
Meanwhile, Kneecap have announced that a gig booked for Vienna has been cancelled and said it “follows the recent cancellation of a screening of our movie as part of the Vienna Cultural Summer due to “threats” and “security concerns”. ” They described the development as “political distraction”.