The County Monaghan Pipe Band Championship will take place once again in Castleblayney on Saturday 24 April 2010. The venue will be the Car Park of the Glencarn Shopping Centre & Hotel on McGrath Road. This event is organised under the auspices of Lisnagrieve Pipe Band, Co Monaghan, The Glencarn Hotel and Leisure Centre and the Irish Pipe Band Association (Leinster Branch) who will take charge of the adjudicating and stewarding.

We are particularly pleased to have bands from all traditions and parts of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland participate in this event and many of these were successful last year. The competition will commence at 12 Noon. There will be 5 categories-

• Grade 5/4B

• Grade 4/4A

• Drum Majors

• Grade 3B

• Grade 3A

• Grade 2

The Big Band Parade through Castleblayney will be at 5pm and all are welcome! Last year’s event was a resounding success. This we aim to build on this annual event. There will be over twenty bands participating in the competitions with many followers and those who take a particular interest in pipe music and its culture. We hope that this will be of great benefit to the town as it will bring much needed business to the area at this difficult economic time. We appreciate the co-operation of the Glencarn Hotel & Leisure Centre, Monaghan Road, Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan in this event and the help given by Patrick McFadden. We also work closely with Castleblayney Chamber of Commerce and this too is appreciated. This year, the event featured in a special brochure which the Castleblayney Community Enterprise Centre produced. All of this highlights the community nature of the event.

All entries: Contact Finbarr Connolly: finconnolly@eircom.net