This article is from page 34 of the 2008-09-16 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 34 JPG
IT may be a bad time for the econo- my but increases in oil and electricity prices have made it a golden age for the matchmaker, with scores flocking to Lisdoonvarna looking for someone to keep them warm this winter.
That is the opinion of legendary matchmaker Willie Daly, who is also on the look out for a farmer on the dole to take an American millionaire off his hands.
‘This year has been good so far, it’s only been getting warmed up really but all things are starting to get into
it’s stride,” he said.
“The matchmaking is going well. I think with the promise of a cold win- ter coming up everyone wants to be with someone. With electricity and oil prices getting higher it’s easier to have a nice partner to keep them warm for the winter. With the high costs of living, it’s better to have two people than one to help with the run- ning of a house.
“We still have a lot of foreign people taking part but not as many Americans as in other years. There is agood amount of German and Eng- lish people the whole time but some
of the English would be more there for the dancing and the craic as for the matchmaking itself.”
This weekend, Lisdoonvarna will play host to a rich oil baroness from America who is looking for an Irish farmer to take home to Texas with her.
“There is young woman coming from Texas who is an oil baroness. She is going to spend about five or six days in Lisdoonvarna starting this weekend. She has fallen in love with Ireland – she visited here when she was 11 and it has always stayed in her mind,’ continued Willie.
“She has become a little disillu- sioned by American men and wants to try her hand with an Irish man. She has been in contact with me di- Kore AYAE-NOLOMAUG DN MOL oMCCO) UNDONE O(osKommN BION] an older woman. Hopefully now we want to keep her in Clare and not let her off somewhere else. She is look- ing for a man who will give her a lot of time so I was thinking maybe of a nice small farmer from off in west Clare, maybe someone who is on the dole and would have time for her.”
For more on this years Match Mak- ing Festival check out www.match- makerireland.com