THE St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Enniskillen look set to get even bigger.
An independent economic assessment estimated last year’s celebrations were worth around £1.4m to the local economy. Organisers of the St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Enniskillen now want to run events over two days, and have asked Fermanagh and Omagh District for an extra £10,000 towards the costs of the extended programme.
Councillors will discuss the request for the additional money at a meeting this evening of the council’s Regeneration and Community committee.
The council is also being asked for an extra £10,000 to also extend the St Patrick’s celebrations in Omagh across two days.
In a report prepared for this evening’s meeting, last year’s celebrations in Omagh and Enniskillen were described as ‘highly successful’.
“Both events have expanded considerably in scale, profile, and attendance in recent years, supported by strong community participation and positive public feedback.
“Independent economic impact assessment confirms that these events deliver strong returns on Council investment.
“The proposed budget uplifts are therefore presented as strategic investments aligned with the Council’s Events and Festivals Strategy, which aims to focus support for large scale events identified as delivering the greatest social and economic return for the district.”
The report states that the total cost of the St Patrick’s celebrations in Enniskillen last year was £46,000.
The council provided £23,000 of this, with the rest coming from Enniskillen Business Improvement District (BID) and local businesses.
The report adds: “An additional £10,000 has been requested from the Council to support development of the two-day format, meet rising operational costs linked to increased parade attendance and delivery of the evening event, and maintain momentum, growth, and community engagement.”
The report adds that the extra £20,000 required to support the St Patrick’s events in Omagh and Enniskillen could be met from ‘projected underspends within the 2025/26 Sponsorship Budget’.
