The Gathering Ireland 2013 - You're Invited

We're planning something big. BIG big. Something country-wide, year-long, larger and more ambitious than anything we've done before. Ladies and gentlemen, let us be the first to invite you to The Gathering. We're giving you plenty of notice as the party actually begins at midnight on January 1st 2013. And it'll run for an entire year. It'll require the total breadth of a country as the venue, and a whole population to host it. As we said, BIG big.

Pierce Brosnan describes it as a year where we "celebrate what it is to be Irish". Of course, we already know - we just want you to know, too.

That's where people like Niamh Gallagher come in. In 2007, Niamh's Global Gallagher Gathering broke the previous record for biggest number of people with the same surname attending a clan gathering. She recalls; 

"A great buzz developed leading up to the event. We had the media discussing whether certain celebrities might attend. We had an international television crew coming to cover the event. The first few to arrive were from such places as Brazil, British Columbia, Canada and Australia. All this woke locals up to the fact that this really was a "global" gathering." 

Topping a Guinness World Record is a tall order. But top it she, and all the other Gallaghers, no doubt will when they stage another epic reunion in September 2013. Of course this time around, the Gallagher clan will be riding on the wave of The Gathering 2013, which hopes to bring the Irish community, those with Irish heritage and anyone who has a fondness of Ireland to the Emerald Isle for the afore-mentioned shindig.

The Gathering is a citizen-led initiative: 'think not what the Gathering will do for you...' etc. Every Irish person will offer a slice of hospitality in their own way (even if that slice is actual cake... which gets my personal approval). Niamh Gallagher is certainly doing her bit:"Our gathering in 2013 is in response to requests from those who were here in 2007 to have another. We already have people in Australia, New Zealand, Alaska, USA and South Africa (to name a few places) planning on coming once more... and bringing friends and family this time!"

The Gathering will mean a different thing to every person, town and community in Ireland. But it will mean something to all of them. After all, a party invitation, extended to some 70 million people worldwide with Irish connections was always going to be promising.

There are solid plans afoot. Besides the street parties and tea parties, there's also the convenient fact that there's always a festival around the bend in Ireland. We have festivals for walking, racing, families, foodies and flowers. Expect bunting, dancing, eating, singing and laughing. The year of The Gathering 2013 will still mean big, glitzy fireworks and blockbusters festivals. But they'll be bigger. 

As Niamh Gallagher says;"2013 is just the beginning - a template for the future. And we can do this while having fun and giving enjoyment to others."

The bottom line is even if you have the biggest, briefest or a no connection at all with Ireland, you are cordially invited to come to Ireland in 2013. 

For more information, visit discoverirelandmedia.com/ausnz  or email Donna