Parades Commission gives go-ahead for festive Turkey Walk
Friday, 5 December 2008
Birds of a feather: A parade, which will feature turkeys, geese and roosters, is to parade along Irvinestown's main street
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Christmas turkeys will be walking a traditional route through the centre of a County Fermanagh town after the Parades Commission granted approval for Ireland’s first Turkey Walk.
The organisers of the parade had to pluck up the courage to seek permission from the parades body before next Saturday’s event on Irvinestown's main street.
The walk forms part of the Christmas craft market and Turkey Fair, which will also feature a turkey and goose auction.
It comes after a circus in Bangor was reported to the Parades Commission after some elephants apparently caused offence when they paraded up the street.
Organiser Joe Mahon, of Mahon’s Hotel, said: “The local sergeant told me we had to apply to the Parades Commission if we wanted to parade the turkeys up the street. Hopefully we’ll have around 100 turkeys and geese.”
Joe has crossed his fingers that plenty of poulterers will get involved in provide birds to take part.
Irvinestown holds the Lady of the Lake Festival every summer but this year saw a special effort as it’s the 100th anniversary since the trust were established.
“We had a big fair day in the summer and it was a great success and attracted thousands — and one man said we should run a turkey fair at Christmas,” Joe said.
“The sergeant himself has a one-legged rooster and he’s going to be bringing it to the parade.”
Joe has been working closely with Teresa O’Hare, who runs Orchard Acre Farm, a green tourism centre that recently featured in the BBC series Northern Exposure.
He says she has a bird which will be taking part.
“Teresa is training her goose — she’s made a lead to walk it up the street,” he said.
Teresa, however, denies the claim.
“We have trained a rabbit to walk on the lead, but we haven’t trained the goose,” she said.
“So we have between now and next Saturday to get her walking. How she will perform in a main street with lots of people watching will be another matter.”
Ozzy the goose looks set to make it through a second Christmas, Teresa said.
“We had the intention of eating her last Christmas, but we couldn’t do it,” she said.
Teresa said there are fewer restrictions governing fowl, so turkeys were chosen instead of pigs or other livestock.
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Wish i could have been there to see Joe Mahon walking the turkeys up Mill Street.I bet Uncle Hugo was there also.
Posted by Seamus. | 17.12.08, 04:08 GMT
Joe is right, it was great sport and all in aid of a good cause. Great to see all the local people, businesses and police supporting such a fun day and a good cause. Loads of people got involved.
Posted by OldSod | 15.12.08, 10:11 GMT
The turkey parade went off peacefully and everyone there enjoyed the spectacle and most important £627.00wasraised for Relay For Life Cancer Research U K Thank you Linda for highlighting the event and all Turkeys returned home safe well for another 12 days
Posted by joe mahon | 13.12.08, 18:14 GMT
Who exactly was "offended" by elephnats walking through Bangor?? What a joke!! People making complaints about something like this makes a complete mockery of the supposed free and tolerant society we should all be striving to create for our future generations.
Posted by Woz | 13.12.08, 10:04 GMT
If nothing else this has just shows the silliness of marching in general, and indeed the parades commission. Lets just hope that Chickens don't get offended by these turkeys marching, and try to stop them by having a sit down protest in the middle of the road.
Posted by Fred | 11.12.08, 20:36 GMT
Many of those people who criticize the commission have their own agenda that doesn’t face up to the violent actions of the often recent past
Posted by Ed | 05.12.08, 18:14 GMT
Do you not think that as the Belfast Telegraph's Environmental Correspondent, you should be noting your opposition to this, rather than making light of the situation.
Training any animal to walk down the street attached to a lead for the public's amusement seems a bit medieval, nevermind cruel.
Posted by Corinna | 05.12.08, 15:41 GMT
what a joke.
Posted by peter | 05.12.08, 13:45 GMT
Will the turkeys be wearing sashes like their feathers and their fore-feathers before them?
Posted by chuffy | 05.12.08, 13:37 GMT
Should give them all bowler hats...
Posted by David | 05.12.08, 13:02 GMT
First reading this story is very amusing
Then you think about the cost of the parades commission and the valuable police time taken up form filling etc and you remember how much better that money could be spent.
I think the parades commission needs to be disbanded and wound up ASAP
Posted by Robert | 05.12.08, 12:39 GMT
what a refreshing change, that turkeys will march at xmas instead of the summer.
will they be restricted to a single chirp as not too offend anybody?
Posted by G | 05.12.08, 10:52 GMT
This was not the reason the Parades Commission was set up. It has just become another useless quango of elitists on big public salaries or allowances, sitting in expensive office suites telling ordinary people what they can and can not do. The Parades Commission has outlived its' usefulness and should be wound up.
Posted by T J McClean | 05.12.08, 09:08 GMT
The Parades Commission is just another waste of public money. The Commission members will be paid for doing nothing
Posted by MARC | 05.12.08, 04:31 GMT