Swift event set to draw big crowds

The Swift Satire Festival, which opens in Trim tomorrow (Thursday) evening is expected to attract visitors from across the country in a welcome boost for the local economy. The festival, which runs from Thursday 5th July to Sunday 8th July, will see a wealth of comedy talent descend on the town, including Dara " Briain, David McSavage, the Nualas and Barry Murphy of Après Match, as well as some of Ireland's leading satirists. George Hook will host this year's Swift Dinner Discussion in Knightsbrook Hotel on Friday night with a stellar cast of celebrities, politicians and satirists. Special guests are called upon at random intervals throughout dinner to talk for three minutes on the topic: 'How Irish people will shape the world in the coming years'. The Satire-Day Comedy Festival on Saturday will feature Dara " Briain, Republic of Telly, the Savage Eye and many more of Ireland's leading comedians in a marquee in the grounds of Trim Castle. Satire Night, a full comedy show, will also take place in the marquee where Barry Murphy from Après Match, David McSavage, The Nualas, Joe Rooney and Ding Dong Denny O'Reilly promise to deliver cracking comedy on Saturday evening. There will be a strong cultural input into this year's festival with a number of events including Poetry in Motion: Public readings of favourite poems by members of the public will take place on the streets of Trim and is led by members of Trim Drama Group, Trim Musical Society, Boyne Writers Group and Meath Writers Circle. There will also be a marathon public reading of Jonathan Swift's 'A Tale of a Tub', one of Swift's most famous books. It will be read in public by a relay of 62 readers, each of them reading two pages of the book, which was originally published in 1704 and is regarded by many as even more satirical than 'Gulliver's Travels'. The marathon reading will take five hours and all proceeds will go to charity. The comedians participating in the festival's Satire Day comedy fest are expected to take their turn at reading the book in public. A unique collection of items associated with Jonathan Swift will be exhibited in the church where his friend, Dr Anthony Raymond, was vicar. It includes the altar silver Swift used at Laracor, Trim's 18th century maces, historic editions of 'Gulliver's Travels', legal documents and handwritten records of income from the parishioners of Laracor and Rathbeggan as well as other items of local interest. It's not often that the people of Meath get an opportunity to see Trim's historic town maces. The impressive set of two silver maces was made in Dublin in 1728 by Master Goldsmith William Williamson and were presented to Trim by Garret Wesley, Swift's parishioner and friend from Dangan Castle. One of the highlights of the festival will be talks in St patrick's Cathedral at 5pm on Friday and Saturday given by two local men. On Friday, Peter Higgins, who lives in St Mary's Abbey - which was owned at different times by Swift and Stella - will give a talk entitled 'Swift, Stella and Trim - A personal view'. On Saturday, poet and historian Michael Farry will give an illustrated talk on Gulliver as a Comic Book Hero. Both talks are free of charge.