Feis Dhoire Cholmcille, Derry’s premier annual music and Irish dance festival, is in full flow during Easter week, and has long been a fixture on the city’s cultural calendar.

The Feis is returning to its original home, the Guildhall, this year, to free up the Millennium Forum for another cultural celebration – the annual City of Derry Jazz & Big Band Festival.

Having grown up with music, the Feis has been a big part of my family life, and we have been immersed in it over the years through the tuition of my late grandfather James Mac Cafferty, who is remembered in one of the singing competitions, the James Mac Cafferty Cup.

My mother, Una O’Somachain, now runs the Mac Cafferty School of Music, whose pupils perform alongside those from the Mc Ginley School of Music. There are the Irish dancing schools represented – with the likes of longstanding Irish dancing teacher, Pat Henderson Bond, who sits on the Feis committee.

For an institution that is almost 90 years old (established in 1922), I believe it holds its place in modern society and it is certainly worth paying a visit, if only to enjoy some of the young up and coming local performers.

Feis Dhoire Cholmcille 2011 will run until Friday 29th April, at venues from the Guildhall to St Columb’s Hall.

Eibhlin Boydell

A new social enterprise, Create Print, has opened its doors in the Resource Centre Derry.

The business has been established to offer print services to the social, public and private sectors, and to plough its profits back into the social economy.

Mary Bradley, Chairperson of the Resource Centre Derry Ltd, said: “The directors of the Resource Centre are delighted to be in a position to support this new venture which creates employment, and delivers the ethos behind community ownership and development.”

Andrew Davis, General Manager of Create Print, said: “We are pleased with the opportunity to launch the new business, and wish to thank the Resource Centre Derry Ltd for the use of their facilities to set-up the business.

“Our core aims will be to act as a Community Interest Company and to be a social enterprise print service provider for the local social, community, voluntary and business communities.

“One of our biggest assets is the fact that we will be one of the few Derry-Londonderry companies to house a digital printer, meaning that much of the work can stay in the region, without the usual need to outsource work to Belfast and beyond.”

The business is a member of the Social Economy Network, and is one of a growing number of social enterprises being established in the North West.