Snub claim over seasonal switch-on

St Patrick's enjoyed rave reviews for their stage version of the hit

The feeling of goodwill to all men may be somewhat absent from this year's Christmas celebrations in Downpatrick.

A row has broken out in the town after a local drama group accused Down District Council of leaving them out of the town's Christmas celebrations.

St Patrick's Choral Society said the council had overlooked their production of Disney's High School Musical and had chosen the Belfast-based Premier Musical Company to perform extracts of the show instead.

The choral society has received rave reviews for their recent sell-out show, which featured a 60-strong cast of local people.

"We had a waiting list of over 100 people, so the celebrations would have been an excellent opportunity for us to perform the musical again in our own local area," society honorary vice-chairman Gareth McGreevy said.

"We don't know whether this is an oversight, but this is causing a lot of annoyance, we are from the area and our council should be supporting us."

Down District Council denied it had deliberately snubbed the local society, and also highlighted that some members of Premier Musical Company come from the area.

"The planning cycle for such events is based on a long lead in period and the planning of this event has been in place for some time," a spokesperson said.

"Premier Musical Company was co-founded by Emmanuel McStravick, who is from Downpatrick and Donna Fleming who is from Ballynahinch.

Mr McGrady says cast members were hurt by the council's actions

"In the forthcoming show one of the principal roles is actually being played by a young boy from Crossgar, with many of the chorus being from Downpatrick, Ballynahinch, Annacloy and other areas within the district."

However, South Down SDLP MP Eddie McGrady, also a member of the choral society, said the oversight had created a lot of ill-feeling.

"After the success of the society's version of High School Musical this hurts all the more, so much effort was put into it by so many local people," he said.

"I don't even know if our members would want to take part if they were asked at this stage."

The Christkindl festival is being held on 30 November, with the tree lights being switched on by X-Factor finalist Chico.

Down District Council said it hoped the switch-on went ahead "in the community-spirited way in which it was planned".

But, be this as it may, Down District Council can presumably consider itself permanently removed from a certain choral society's Christmas card list.