Radio

There was a real Irish atmosphere as the Costa del Sol Irish Association treated shoppers to some real Irish and Celtic music and dancing and on Saturday REM Radio’s Maurice Boland brought ‘a little bit of blarney’ to the centre with a live show. He talked to Irish residents and visitors about St Patrick’s Day, the rugby and all things Irish. Tony Bell of the Costa del Sol Irish Association presented Maurice with a Seal of Excellence Award for his services to the local Irish community.

Children from St Anthony’s College in Mijas and the Benalmádena British College had worked hard on their Spirit of Ireland Art Exhibition and their paintings, drawings and sculptures and poems were on show over the weekend.

Literally thousands of visitors entered the top prize draw and three local Fuengirola and Mijas Costa residents won flights to the Emerald Isle and a 500 euro shopping spree in Parque Miramar while the winner of the short break in Waterford was all the way from Nerja.

Hard stuff

St Patrick’s Day wouldn’t be St Patrick’s Day without a drop of Guinness and the Guinness bar went down a treat, as did the delicious Irish appetisers, cooked up by a local gourmet catering company.

The team at Parque Miramar and the event organisers, i:candi, were delighted with the weekend’s shenanigans and as Louise Brace from i:candi said: “We had an absolute craic ... we’re already looking forward to next year.”