Sell-out Swift Festival is just the ticket

There are three big nightly events in the Trim Swift Festival next month - and one has already sold out. All 11 tables for the round-table debate on Friday 3rd July were snapped up at a public auction last week. Tickets to the other nights are going on sale this week and the organisers are already warning that interest is high in the limited numbers that can be accommodated. 'We"ve added some extra humour to this year"s festival,' said festival executive, Barbara Nestor, 'and this is going down very well with people who are really fed up with the relentless gloom that we"re all talking about and hearing about every single day of the week.' The sold-out night saw celebrity tables being auctioned off last week to the highest bidders. The top bid of the night, €1,000, went for controversial journalist and broadcaster Sam Smyth and the successful bidder will now be able to bring himself and eight of his friends and colleagues to dine with Sam at the function in Trim"s Knightsbrook Hotel. Intriguingly, Sam Smyth eclipsed another controversial journalist/broadcaster, Vincent Browne, for the most expensive slot. Vincent 'only' attracted a top bid of €850 - and Barbara Nestor said that anyone who saw Vincent in action at the round-table night in last year"s festival would know that this was a real bargain. The lowest successful bid of the auction, conducted by auctioneer and local election candidate Ronan McKenna, was €650. The other celebrities on offer were Stephen Collins, Fergus Finlay, Harry McGee, Terry Prone, Mark Hennessy, Noel Whelan, Daragh Callery, David Norris and Conor Lenihan. 'There will be a big demand for tickets to see the Nob Nation man, as I heard someone calling him the other day,' Barbara said. 'He - meaning Oliver Callan - will be in the new Trim GAA Centre on Saturday night, 4th July, for the festival"s Satire Night, along with the comedy sketch show team, 'The Emergency", from Newstalk.' Tickets are also limited, to 32 tables of six people, making a total of 192 altogether, for the Literary Cabaret in Trim Castle Hotel on the final night of the festival, Sunday 5th July. On the other hand, entry is free for the outdoor Tannoy Debate on the Saturday evening when George Hook will again chair a lively discussion - 'or, rather, a good old-fashioned political shouting match from the back of a lorry,' added Barbara. The round table discussion will take place on the 3rd July at 7.30pm in Knightsbrook Hotel. This is a centrepiece of the Trim Swift Festival which celebrates the life, works and legacy of Jonathan Swift and seeks to promote satire in Ireland. All the events throughout the festival bring the brightest minds in media, politics and academia to the town to discuss Irish society in an entertaining and engaging way. This year, for the first time ever, 'Nob Nation" and 'The Emergency" will share a stage in a satire comedy night on Saturday 4th July. Tickets are still available for all events at info@trimswiftfestival.com or by calling Barbara on (087) 926 8066. See www.trimswiftfestival.com