The All Ireland & International Dancing Championships 2006 held in the West County Hotel, Ennis, Co. Clare were a great success. A week of hard word, but much fun, enjoyment and of course tremendous excitement was had by all who attended. The winners will be able to view their photographs shorlty on our website. We would like to thank all the sponsors who kindly supported us for this years event by sponsoring Championships, Gold Medals and New Cups. We very much appreciate your generousity.

This year a totally new look was imposed on the All Ireland & International Championships. We had a new marking system which produced the highest consistently marked dancers in decending order within each competition. We also had 5 tier rostrum for the prize-giving cermonies and each of the top 5 winners in all solo competitions were presented with beautiful cups. The winner of all the Girls Solo Championships also received a pair of Hullachan pomps courtesy of Craig Coussins and Dance City, while the winner of the Boys Solo Championships received a voucher from Fays Shoes. Johnnie Foxs Cabaret gave the winner of the Senior Ladies Championship a family outing for dinner and cabaret at their well renouned venue.

The 2007 All Ireland & International Dancing Championships will be held back in the West County Hotel, Ennis, Co. Clare from April 1st - 8th. We look forward to going back to the West County again and we thank all the staff of the West County and Lynch Hotels for their hospitality. They were so helpful and friendly to all concerned and we look forward to dealing with them again in the future.

Happy Easter to everyone following the All Irelands via the internet.

Day 7 of the All Irelands was competed for by the Girls Solo Championships at U16, U19 & U20 ages. As the week draws to a close there will be a hard earned rest for organisers, teachers, dancers & families alike from bank holiday Monday onwards. The Championships have been a great success and credit should go towards everyone involved. Tomorrow will be the busiest day in terms of number of competitions with a total of 8 in all up for decision.

As the Easter weekend begins, Good Friday saw the completion of a further 7 competitions. Today’s schedule concentrated mainly on the figure/team competitions with 2 solo competitions also held. 29 out of the 40 All Ireland Championships have now been completed for this year. Remember to see all the results just select the Championship from the list above.

On Day 5 of the All Irelands another 3 Championships were held – The Girls U15 & U18 and the Boys U19 Championships. Congratulations to all the winners. All week the crowds have been attending in huge numbers and today was no different. Everyone is enjoying the week immensely and our hosts at the Lynch West County Hotel are looking after everyone very well.

The All Ireland & International Dancing Championships 2006 kicked off to a great start with an Official Opening Ceremony held at 8:30am on Sunday, 9th April. The ceremony commenced with a computer graphics programme specially designed for the event. The Chairperson, Mr. Matthew Donohue, introduced each region of An Comhdhail as the flag bearers presented each Branch. The Branches represented were Australia, Beltast, Connaught, Cork, Channel Islands, Derry/Donegal, Dublin, Kildare/Laois, London, London & Home Counties, Southern England, Midlands, Mid Ulster, Newry, Scotland, Slovakia, South Derry/South West Antrim, USA, Waterford, Wicklow, West Tyrone. The Adjudicators draw took place and the Chairperson declared the Championships open.

Tune in to Clare FM Radio on 95 - 96FM to the "Brighter Breakfast Show" from 6am - 10am this week for a report broadcast from the All Ireland & International Championships. Colum Flynn caught up with some of the Irish Dancers and had a chat with them. Well worth a listen to especially if you are not in Ennis!

As we count down the hours to the start of this years All Ireland & International Championships on Sunday April 9th next, the An Comhdhail website would like to wish the very best of luck to all the competitors participating in the 2006 All Ireland Championships next week and hope that you find the event a most enjoyable experience!

Daily News will appear here during the Championships.....Watch this Space!