Game Fair '24 cancelled as two directors retire

THE Game Fair at Shane’s Castle looks set to be postponed again this year.

Event directors Albert Titterington and Paul Pringle have announced their retirement from organising the Irish Game Fair due to ‘personal health issues’.

In total they have organised 69 Game Fairs and several other award winning events throughout Ireland over the past 43 years.

After taking early retirement from their original careers - Albert was a senior university academic and international marketing consultant and Paul was a senior PR advisor - they brought their expertise and flair to the passionate promotion and defence of country sports.

The 2023 Game Fair had to be postponed due to illness across the organising team and unfortunately plans to ensure the future of the fair in 2024 and beyond through an orderly transfer to a leading UK events company have not come to fruition.

Now with Albert and Paul, both personally ‘under doctors orders’, plans for the 2024 Irish Game Fair have had to be cancelled.

In a joint statement, Albert and Paul said: “We appreciate that this will be very disappointing for the 20,000 people who regularly attend the Fair. For many it was an annual family pilgrimage.

“It will also be disappointing to the hundreds of regular trade exhibitors who found it an important market place for a wide range of rural products, and the Antrim area will not have the important financial boost which the Fair generated over what became known as ‘Game Fair Weekend’.

“We would like to pay tribute to all of these supporters plus our hosts at Shane’s Castle, the fair sponsors and of course the current host council, Antrim and Newtownabbey Council.

“We sincerely hope that a new team will come forward to take over the running of this well established event and we stand ready to give them our maximum support and assistance to keep this country sports traditional event alive.”

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