Tag Archives: Dancing for Pleasure

A SOCIAL lifeline for hundreds of people from Clare, and beyond, may have had its last dance, due to new rules on e-ticketing, writes Fiona McGarry. Members of the Dancing for Pleasure group have had to sit it out over the long months of lockdown. As restrictions eased for the live events sector, they were keen to dust off their dancing shoes. Organisers were dismayed, however, to find out that the rule on advance ticketing applies, not just to nightclubs, but to their social dancing outings. Regular attendees, who range in age from 60 to 90, are unlikely to take to the e-ticketing system, organisers believe. “We love our dancing,” said Ennis-based committee member Andy Carmody. “Now, we have completely lost our exercise and our social life. A lot of people are not into the internet. I just don’t think that having to buy a ticket by email, at least an hour before the dance, will work for us. “It’s …

A SOCIAL life-line for hundreds of people from Clare, and beyond, may have had its last dance, due to new rules on e-ticketing. Members of the Dancing for Pleasure group have had to sit it out over the long months of lockdown. As restrictions eased for the live events sector, they were keen to dust off their dancing shoes. Organisers were dismayed, however, to find out that the rule on advance ticketing applies, not just to nightclubs, but to their social dancing outings. Regular attendees, who range in age from 60 to 90, are unlikely to take to the e-ticketing system, organisers believe. “We love our dancing,” said Ennis-based committee member Andy Carmody. “Now, we have completely lost our exercise and our social life. A lot of people are not into the internet. I just don’t think that having to buy a ticket by email, at least an hour before the dance, will work for us. It’s not really something …

Thirty years ago, a group of like-minded men and women came together to form Ennis’ Dancing for Pleasure group and some of them are still coming together to dance every Sunday evening. The Auburn Lodge has been the venue for the weekly dancing for the last few years after decades in the West County Hotel. Sheelagh Abraham was one of the founders of Dancing for Pleasure, while Andy Carmody is a relative newcomer by comparison, having only been involved for 29 and a half years. The two visited The Clare Champion recently to reflect on a milestone for the club, its 30th year in existence. Sheelagh remembers how it came into being. “When we came to Ennis first, I had two sisters in Ennis and my husband had one sister. At the St Patrick’s Day parade, I said to them, “Will there be any dancing tonight?” One said to me there will be loads of dancing but it was all …