2000’s
Comhaltas celebrated it’s Golden Jubilee Year in 2001. Fifty years after its foundation it now had over 400 branches established throughout Ireland, Britain, the USA, Canada and as far afield as Japan and Australia with 44 Fleadhanna held annually involving 25,000 competitors drawn from all over the world.
Jubilee celebrations were held throughout Ireland culminating in an Anniversary Banquet in the Mansion House in Dublin that September with the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese as the guest of honour. An Post recognised the Jubilee Year by producing four special stamps celebrating the traditional arts.
2001 was also the year that saw the publication of the first of four books in the hugely popular ‘Foinn Seisiún’ series. Based on a concept by the late Brian Prior, the idea of the books was to encourage musicians of all ages and abilities to participate in or to form their own music session groups and to build up a store of tunes that would be common to sessions everywhere.
ComhaltasLive was launched in March 2003 and was described at the time by Árdstiúrthóir, Labhrás Ó Murchú as “One of the most significant developments since the establishment of Comhaltas in 1951”. Produced by Willie Fogarty, it was a weekly webcast featuring the best of traditional Irish music,dance and song.
Also in 2003, another continent was added to the Comhaltas tour destination list when a group of artists from Bru Ború travelled to Zambia in Africa at the invitation of the Wild Geese Society of Lusaka, performing several concerts including at the Irish Embassy on St. Patricks Day, while later that same year the Bru Ború group also performed in Slovenia.The same year the first Australasian Fleadh Cheoil was held in Freemantle, Western Australia. Organised by the Perth branch of Comhaltas, it brought together members from Australia, New Zealand and Japan and included competitions, concerts, sessions and workshops.
Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Clonmel in August 2004 saw the launch of a five year plan for the organisation. ‘An Ród Seo Romhainn – Development Programme For The Irish Traditional Arts’ proposed eight regional development teams and resource centres with the concept of ‘Meitheal’ underpinning the proposed developments, to reach beyond Comhaltas and link with local communities.
Another significant milestone in the history of organisation was marked in October 2007 when the show ‘Macalla na hÉireann’ was performed at Stormont Castle in Belfast by the Comhaltas touring group, with the event being hosted by the Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Francie Molloy MLA.
As the decade drew to a close, more history was created for the organisation in 2009 with the first ever Canada only Comhaltas tour with a ten day programme taking in Montreal, Ottawa, North Bay, Barrie, Saskatoon, Regina, Manitou and Winnipeg.
The first Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann of the new millennium was hosted by Enniscorthy, with Listowel, Clonmel and Letterkenny each hosting the festival twice in the 2000’s before Tullamore became home to the event for three years, from 2007 to 2009.