A Co Leitrim Irish-dancing club, which used to hold classes in local pubs, has just been granted over €400,000 in cross-Border funding for a novel arts initiative.
This week Riverdance star Colin Dunne will launch the Shaylyn Traditional Arts Centre which will create almost 20 jobs in Ballinamore, making it one of the biggest employers in the town.
The performing arts centre will deliver a third-level Irish dance and music course affiliated to the Irish World Music Centre in the University of Limerick.
The Shaylyn centre, which was founded by local woman Jane Gilheaney, will also host a joint course in Irish and Ulster-Scots dance, an international dance festival which will be held in September, and range of classes in dance and traditional instruments.
Ireland's first traditional talent agency is also being established for national and international clients.
Ms Gilheaney, a former PR consultant, said she started the Shaylyn group in the late 1990s in response to the lack of opportunities for young adults who wanted to continue Irish dancing beyond childhood.
"I think we in the group see Irish dance and music as a natural resource which can and should be harnessed to sustain our local community," she said.
The handful of 18- to 20-year-olds who jumped at the opportunity to pursue their love of Irish dancing soon expanded to a group of 20 musicians and dancers.
They helped to put together the Shaylyn show, a history of Irish dance, which has been performed throughout Ireland and at festivals in France, Germany and England.
In 2004 the voluntary group packed out the Town Hall in 42nd Street, New York, thanks mainly to the support of the Leitrim Society in the city which helped to arrange accommodation and used its contacts to sell out the off-Broadway venue.
Ms Gilheaney said: "It was a gamble as initially we didn't even know how we would pay for our flights, but then we got help from Arigna Leader programme and thanks to them and the Leitrim Society.
"We had a great adventure and we broke even." After years of fruitless applications for grant assistance Shaylyn has just received €185,916 through the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation and a further €221,940 in Interreg funding.
As a result, it has moved into a new premises in Ballinamore, three full-time staff have been appointed and 15 part-time tutors will be recruited for the dance and instrument classes.
"It doesn't seem so long ago since we were delighted to get a room in a local pub to give the classes," she said.
An old warehouse off the main street in Ballinamore was Shaylyn's base until recently, but now it has a modern arts centre which includes two light-filled dance studios with breathtaking views of Sliabh an Iarainn.
The project will be launched by Colin Dunne in the Ramada Hotel, Drumshanbo, Co Leitrim, next Friday.
