Behind the Scenes: McQuillan Environmental Helps Keep Belfast Moving During Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2026
Belfast has been alive with music, culture and celebration over the past week as the city hosted Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2026 for the first time.
Behind the scenes, the McQuillan Environmental team has been working around the clock to help keep the city clean, safe and moving throughout the event, supporting Belfast City Council as its waste management partner.
Taking place from Sunday 2 to Sunday 9 August, the Fleadh brought thousands of musicians, performers and visitors to Belfast for what is recognised as the world’s biggest celebration of Irish music, song, dance and culture.
Keeping Belfast Clean Behind the Scenes
While the focus of the Fleadh has been on the music and atmosphere across the city, a significant amount of work has been taking place behind the scenes to manage the additional waste generated by such a large-scale event.
Ahead of the Fleadh, approximately 400 bins were labelled and distributed throughout Belfast City Centre, ensuring additional waste facilities were available across the key event areas.
Our teams were on the streets from the early hours, working around the event schedule to service bins, collect waste and keep busy city-centre areas clean as visitors arrived and events got underway.
A Team Effort
Delivering waste management services during an event of this scale takes more than just equipment and vehicles. It takes a dedicated team working together to plan routes, manage collections, respond to changing requirements and keep the operation moving.
Our McQuillan Environmental team has worked throughout the week to support the city, often operating before Belfast was fully awake to ensure streets were ready for another busy day of Fleadh activity.
From early-morning collections to servicing bins throughout the day, our teams have been there throughout the event – helping to keep Belfast looking its best while the city celebrated.
The Work Doesn’t Stop When the Music Does
Although the official Fleadh programme came to an end on Sunday 9 August, our work didn’t finish when the last performance ended.
Our teams have remained on the ground carrying out the final clean-up and collection of bins, helping to clear the remaining waste and return Belfast to normal following a hugely busy week.
It is a fitting final chapter to what has been a major operation for McQuillan Environmental – and one that demonstrates the importance of the work that happens behind the scenes at major events.
Proud to Play Our Part
As a Northern Ireland family business with more than a century of experience serving the communities around us, we are proud to have played our part in such a significant event for Belfast.
The Fleadh brought music, culture and visitors from across Ireland and beyond to our city, and our team was proud to contribute in a practical way to helping make the event a success.
A huge thank you goes to everyone across McQuillan Environmental who has played their part over the past number of weeks, from the planning and preparation through to the final collections.
The music may have finished, but the clean-up is now complete – and Belfast is ready for Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2027!
