Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council has welcomed plans for the return of a Pipe Band and Drum Majors Championship to Portrush.
In July the council received correspondence from the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association, Northern Ireland Branch, (RSPBANI) confirming their intentions for another championship at the seaside town in 2025.
The correspondence added:
“After having a site meeting and viewing potential spaces, it was agreed the most suitable venue for a pipe band championship is the West Strand, Portrush.
“The RSPBANI would like to set a date of Saturday, August 2, and potentially going forward with the first Saturday in August in future years.
“The RSPBANI would like to work in partnership with the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council through a sponsorship agreement to setup, host and manage this prestigious event.”
DUP Alderman Aaron Callan welcomed the news and said pipe bands were “greatly missing from the Portrush area”.
Alderman Callan concluded:
“Unfortunately the event was taken away and I know local traders and local business were greatly disappointed.
“It is one of the highlights of the calendar, so it’s great to see that the RSPBANI are keen to come back, and they’ve talked about future years and looking at partnership with the council.
“I propose that we obviously agree to hosting in August of next year but also that there’s a paper brought back exploring how we can support the organisation going forward, because I think it’s one of the marquee events that we used to have and it’s good to see it’s returning.”