The annual Horse Fair at Borris, Co. Carlow, has been hailed as ‘a great success’ with the whole town packed and the cleanup operation completed in record time.
A report in today’s Irish Times reflects a positive, well received event, with all shops and pubs open in the town to take advantage of the enormous economic boost to the town of a well organised event with a long history.
In recent years, engagement with Traveller organisations including Pavee Point has brought the fair ‘back from the brink’ – in 2009 the post-fair focus was on the rubbish left on the streets and not cleaned up by the local authority in a timely fashion, while an RTÉ documentary discovered that rubbish left by visitors to the fair – rather than contributors to the fair, was responsible for many of the negative attitudes of local people to the annual event.