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Mod's arrival is music to ears of town's businesses

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Published Date: 13 October 2008
By Murray MacLeod
FALKIRK is expected to receive a significant economic boost thanks to being the host of the Royal National Mod.
Click here for Saturday's Mod results

Thousands of visitors and competitors will converge on the town this week to participate in this year's festival of Gae
lic music and culture, being held in Falkirk for the first time.

Angus MacDonald, a local councillor who heads the organising committee, said: "Obviously, with the Mod coming to Falkirk, it will bring a major economic boost to the area.

"We expect an economic boost to the tune of £1.5 million, which is clearly good news for local retailers and hoteliers given the current economic climate.

"Local firms have embraced the Mod coming to Falkirk and we hope to see a significant boost to local trade once the main competitors arrive."

Mr MacDonald said that the Fiddlers' Rally concert on Saturday had proved one of the highlights so far.

"The feedback we received was fantastic and it followed on from a tremendous launch on Friday night," he said.

Formal competitions began on Saturday, when Pipe Major Gordon Walker from Ayrshire won the senior piping title.

The competition was somewhat marred when only five of the 15 listed participants turned up. However, Mr MacDonald said that it did not detract from the overall success of the event.

"It was a bit disappointing that so few turned up but the standard was still very high," he said.

An economic assessment of the effects of the Mod in 2005, when the festival visited the Western Isles, showed that it brought around £1 million into the local economy.



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  • Last Updated: 13 October 2008 5:32 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Royal National Mod
 
1

Louis Catorze,

13/10/2008 07:32:02
Falkirk?

That hotbed of the Gaelic revival?
No wonder only 5 pipers turned up.
2

Kate,

Zurich 13/10/2008 10:23:24
#1 Louis, you obviously do not know that the history of the Mod is tightly bound up in the history of droving and that Falkirk was and is a market centre, vital to the ancient droving. When the drovers met up, they had good old jam sessions, which developed into the RNM as we know it today.

Therefore, yes, Falkirk is a hotbed for the Mod, if not for Gaelic revival, which, anyway, has nothing to do with Gaelic, but is for the whole of Scotland.
3

,

13/10/2008 11:09:31
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
4

Alternative (High-Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 13/10/2008 11:48:53
Mods?

Does that mean we are going to see groups like The Who and The Small Faces?

Should be worth seeing. Have to dig out my old Parka and get down there!
5

WHISTLEBLOWER,

13/10/2008 12:56:09
Personally I think the Mod needs to be more interesting.

It took its original cue from the Eisteddfod, but the Eisteddfod has streaked ahead of it, and is much more relevant to the modern world. The current Mod is too Victorian, even down to the "Royal" bit added only a few years back.
6

Alternative (High-Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 13/10/2008 13:37:16
#6:

It would be more interesting if you had The Who and The Small Faces playing there.
7

radge dug,

Dùn Eideann 13/10/2008 15:23:39
#5 Mods? Aye, that's why the Gaelic punk gig tonight with Oi Polloi and Na Gathan will be the highlight for me.
#6- true. We should get rid of the 'Royal' and have more Gaelic punk and rock gigs.

Falkirk is a good place for the Mod though and has a long Gaelic history too, like most of Scotland. Sios dhan Eaglais Bhreac ma-tha!
8

Rufus T. Firefly,

13/10/2008 21:15:28
Hey Fed Up you talk some rubbish.

"Gaelic culture is the definitive culture of Scotland. It belongs everywhere in our country and is visible everywhere."

Visible everywhere?

It is not visible anywhere in Edinburgh you idiot.
9

Rufus T. Firefly,

13/10/2008 21:16:01
Hey Fed Up, you talk some rubbish.

"Gaelic culture is the definitive culture of Scotland. It belongs everywhere in our country and is visible everywhere."

Visible everywhere?

It is not visible anywhere in Edinburgh you idiot.
10

Rufus T. Firefly,

13/10/2008 21:16:23
Hey Fed Up you talk some rubbish.

"Gaelic culture is the definitive culture of Scotland. It belongs everywhere in our country and is visible everywhere."

Visible everywhere?
11

radge dug,

14/10/2008 10:04:29
10- ~Rufus - Gaelis IS visible in Edinburgh,you ignoramus? Placenames, auld Gaelic churches, present Gaelic churches, primary and secondary school education, the local Feis, drama group, a Gaelic punk band - Oi Polloi. Go and check it out.

Gaelic is visible everywhere. Even in the Northern Isles, it has to be remembered the Orkneys, Shetlands, even the Faroes where settled by Gaelic speaking monks before the Vikings came. Again, go and research it.

Funny how folk with no Gaelic, can't 'see' it??!!

 

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