French visit to Drumquin for fiesta fun

THERE was a palpable air of fiesta in Drumquin at the weekend, as the village marked the 20th anniversary of its twinning with Pont-Remy.

Hosting a small coterie of notables from the village in northern France who travelled over for the occasion, Drumquin Development Association had organised three days’ worth of celebrations, beginning with a special reception for les visiteurs at Fermanagh and Omagh District Council offices at the Grange.

An evening meal at the Silver Birch Hotel followed that evening, and then the main festival took place in Drumquin on Saturday, with a welcome ceremony, including music and dancing at O’Cahan Arms, a fun day and vintage machinery parade in the afternoon, and later, in the evening, a celebratory barbecue and pig-on-the-pit also at O’Cahan’s AKA Tom’s.

“We’d like to thank all the children for all their help, and we appreciate all their time and effort they went to for the music and the dancing – it’s was brilliant,” Connie Skelton from the Drumquin Development Association said yesterday (Sunday) ahead of a tour of the Ulster American Folk.

“They played for us on Saturday morning and we had highland dancers and pipers – everyone was just brilliant, and our French visitors really enjoyed it.”

With the 20th anniversary celebrations postponed due to the Covid pandemic, Connie remarked that the two villages have actually been twinned for 22 years.

“The relationship has gone from strength-to-strength over the years, and hopefully that will continue,” Connie added.

“They’re looking forward to the Folk Park today, but I know that they are having a great time. They are really buzzing here.

“They were blown away by everything yesterday, from the way everyone in the village came out to celebrate to the fun day and the night at Tom’s. They just loved it.”