IRVINESTOWN man Joe Mahon looks set to ruffle feathers again as he prepares to host a controversial cockfight as part of this year’s Lady of the Lake Festival. 
The hotelier, who once planned to throw 50 live turkeys off a clock tower in Irvinestown for the community event to see if they could fly, has pledged that “everything will be by the book.”
“This year we’ve decided to have a cockfight; two cocks from the street will be fighting. It will be one of the highlights of the festival. We are hoping to have plenty of cocks there to take part,” Mr. Mahon told The Impartial Reporter.
The businessman said the winner of the cockfight will receive a “special trophy” while the winning cock “will get a framed photo of its owner to look at.”
Mr. Mahon, who was last week awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) by The Queen which he mistook as a BMW, has defended holding the event.
When it was put to him that this is banned in several countries including the United Kingdom and has been widely condemned due to the physical trauma that is inflicted on the cocks, Mr. Mahon said: “We have carried out a full risk assessment and have spoken to various people about this. I’ve already met the police regarding the whole festival and there have been no issues raised. 
“There will be veterinary people and St. John Ambulance there on the day,” he said.
The festival, which has been running for 39 years, runs from July 14 to July 23. 

Meanwhile, things could certainly heat up with one of Mr. Mahon’s other unconventional events during the festival: Northern Ireland’s first ever wood pellet spitting contest. 

The event comes follows the controversy over the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme which effectively collapsed the power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive six months ago.  “We’ve held very successful sheep dung spitting contests and they made headlines all over the world. This year we are holding a wood pellet spitting contest, we’ll have a measuring cup to measure the pellets.The more pellets you spit the more money you get, a bit like the boilers, ” he said.