IRVINE Memorial Pipe Band are the new A4 World Pipe Band Champions for the very first time.
The band which practices twice a week in Clabby, began competing again in 2022, and since then have continued to succeed.
2024 has been a very successful year for the band with them already winning the Ulster Championships and the All-Ireland Championships under the direction of Pipe Major Neil Stronge and Drum Sergeant Nicky Armstrong.
“If you ask any competitive piper or drummer, the main one is the worlds, it is the one everyone wants to win, the final day started very early for us, we played at eight minutes past nine in a qualifying heat, we qualified and made it to a 12 band final and ultimately we won the final,” said Pipe Major Neil Stronge.
Neil has competed with different pipe bands for 30 years and described winning the world’s with his own band as ‘something special’.
“It is remarkable when you are standing on the Glasgow green and you hear your name being called out as world champions, it is one of those things you dream about, you don’t really accept it until you hear it, and for a lot of the guys I don’t think the reality has sunk in yet,” he said.
On Sunday evening, the band returned home to Fivemiletown where they were greeted with crowds lining the street congratulating them on their win.
“It was great to have that community support from everyone in the town, there was a community spirit about it and the homecoming was something I didn’t expect, it finished our weekend off on a high, and the band would like to thank everyone for the support that we did have,” Neil added.
Tom Elliott MLA offered his congratulations to Irvine Memorial on becoming Grade 4A World Champions and Syerla Pipe Band Drumming Corp on becoming World Champions in Grade 3B after winning in Glasgow on Saturday.
“This is a tremendous achievement and bears testimony to all the hard work and effort both bands have put in over the past year.
“It is good to see that the Pipe Bands tradition is flourishing and continues to enjoy tremendous support across the country,” he said.
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