Bringing smiles and helping charity - Joe Mahon style

Rodney Edwards • Published 15 Dec 2011 13:00 0 Comments

THEY said he couldn't do it but Irvinestown joker Joe Mahon defied the odds by making his turkeys dance on Saturday in a performance that would have made the Strictly Come Dancing finalists blush.

Dressed in a skimpy red Santa suit with matching gloves and a blonde wig, Joe took to the stage in Mahon's Hotel to show off his dancing turkeys, and his er... "rather fetching" legs (his words, not mine).

It was rather unorthodox, but then when has any of the hotelier's events been anything other than a little out of the ordinary. Remember his infamous wolf whistling contest, anyone? Or what about his plans to chuck his turkeys off the town's clock tower?

Dozens of people filled the room to watch Joe, his turkeys, and 'Steptoe and Son' do the 'turkey trot', a dance that had previously been deemed "demoralising" by critics who described the positions assumed by the dancers as "offensively suggestive".

Joe, who was kitted out in black tights and fancy shoes, furiously rejected this suggestion at the weekend as he used sister-like flicks of the feet and fast trotting actions with abrupt stops to pull of quite a performance, to much applause.

But there was an important side to the fun and frolics as all money raised at the turkey dance and craft fair, which ran alongside the event, will now be donated to the Northern Ireland Children's Hospice.

Speaking at the weekend, Joe said: "Every year we try and do something different. This year we wanted to make the turkeys dance, and we did it. It's all a bit of craic; bringing smiles to the people of Irvinestown, and raising money for charity at the same time. I've had ten women on the phone wanting to buy the dress of me since," he added.

Joe paid tribute to all the organisers, including Elaine Wilson from the Northern Ireland Children's Hospice, train owner Mr. Ivan Bradshaw for taking children (and Santa) on spins of the town on his beloved Drumhoney Flyer, volunteers from the Presbyterian Church in Irvinestown for providing the teas and Mr. Robert Kinnear for providing the dancing turkeys.

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This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 15 Dec 11

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