Irish horse-racing fans still attend festival in large numbers despite economic crisis, say travel companies
They downed their first two pints of Guinness just after 9am at Cheltenham rugby club ? before the breakfast buffet had even been laid out.
By midday father and son Iain and Chris Flynn, from Dublin, were in the Guinness Village at the racecourse, enjoying their "sixth or seventh" pint and agreeing this could turn out to be the best St Patrick's Day ever.
The Cheltenham festival is synonymous with the Irish, who for years have descended on Gloucestershire in their tens of thousands to cheer on their horses and down the black stuff by the tankerload.
But it was feared that this year Ireland's economic troubles would keep the green-clad hordes away.
Iain Flynn, a factory worker, said he had been determined to bring his student son along, partly as a show of defiance. "I get the impression that quite a few English people are secretly a little bit glad that we are struggling a bit now. Perhaps they think we have lorded it over them in recent years when times have been good for us.
"I wanted to come this week to demonstrate that the Irish aren't completely bust. We do have a little money to spend still. It was also about coming and having a good time with the lad, of course."
It is hard to gauge accurately how many Irish people have made it to Cheltenham this week: "We don't check their passports at the gate," said racecourse spokesman Andy Clifton. But the travel firms reckon they have brought around the same number as last year on organised tours ? 5,000. On top of that, of course, tens of thousands more make their own way over.
The air and ferry companies are pleased with the number of tickets sold. Ryanair, for example, added extra flights for the week.
"Most passengers snapped up early deals, so to respond to this enormous demand Ryanair has added 22 extra flights," said the airline's Stephen McNamara.
Declan Mescall, head of passenger sales for Irish Ferries, said its bookings were up 20% this week ? though that includes travellers heading the other way for the weekend's crucial Ireland v England rugby match in Dublin.
Mescall believes the economic downturn has turned Irish sports fans, who would have jetted around in recent times, back on to the ferries. "A few years ago everyone would have gone on the ferry. People are realising it's the good value way to go again. It's part of a return to traditional values, I think."
Racegoer Stan McCann, from County Clare, said he detected a different kind of Irish crowd. "I don't think there are quite so many hooray Henry types here. I think the ones who recently have come here just to be seen are staying away and it is more about the hardcore fans again now. For me that's a good thing. It never quite felt right ? young Irish lads coming over in posh shirts and shiny boots and splashing the cash. I'm happy if it gets back to the old crowd, really. If there's a few less bankers and financial types here, I'll be glad."
Not everyone at Cheltenham seemed certain the number of Irish was holding steady. At the Go Racing in Ireland stall, Sophie O'Hare said she had heard numbers were down by 30%: "It is tough times; people are staying away."
On the positive side for her, O'Hare said, there had been huge interest from English people in organising racing trips to Ireland.
Estimating the numbers of Irish people at Cheltenham is further complicated by the festival's drive to attract local people with Irish connections. They have advertised aggressively to try to draw expats to the festival and organised alternative events such as dancing and a performance by Irish rock band Hothouse Flowers to tempt in lovers of Irish culture who may not normally have been attracted to racing.
Yet another problem is the number of English people who, just for a day, like to imagine they are Irish, Such as Derbyshire twins Nick and Anthony Donnelly. In emerald green top hats and (fake) leprechaun beards, they were to be found attempting to winkle hot tips out of O'Hare.
"We're here to celebrate our birthdays and, just for a day, we can all pretend to have a bit of Irish in us, can't we?" Anthony said.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/17/irish-st-patricks-day-cheltenham
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