Wexford School of Ballet & Performing Arts (WSBPA) has donated money to one of its past students as he continues his dance career in England. Following its successful festive show, Sparkle All the Way, which ran in The National Opera House last month, the WSPBA has donated €500 to Paul Whitty as he endeavours to make it big across the water.
Not only is Wexford’s Paul Whitty pursuing a career in something he loves, he is breaking down barriers and leading the way for others to follow. A product of Wexford School of Ballet and Performing Arts (WSBPA) Paul (18) is now training to be a professional dancer at the Northern Ballet School in Manchester, and former teacher Suzanne O’Leary says the young man is an inspiration to all.
If the walls of the old Wexford School of Ballet and Performing Arts (WSBPA) school on John St could talk they would have a lot to say. For 45 years the old building played host to generations of budding young performers, watched on as the children, the grandchildren, of former pupils arrived for classes, and bid goodbye to some of the county’s finest talents as they departed for ballet schools around the world.
“We do think that the ‘staycation’ is probably the best hope for the Irish tourism business, and one of the few positives from the Covid situation is that people are discovering our country, but the domestic market is not big enough to sustain the country’s 20,000 tourism and hospitality businesses,” he said.
“We just hope that in the latter half of the year international travel can start to recommence safely, but public health is first and foremost.
“Really the Irish who are holidaying in Ireland will keep the popular spots like coastal destinations busy during the short few weeks of July and August. Irish people don’t holiday in Dublin, so it was like a ghost town last year. And if matches and concerts in the capital are cancelled it compounds the problem because the people that would have travelled from rural areas to them will not be doing so this year.