Sharon Shannon, Mundy and Shane MacGowan set for Athlone

Sharon Shannon, Mundy and Shane MacGowan - performing as a trio - are to headline this summer's inaugural Athlone Music Festival. Securing the Irish music stars is seen as a major coup for the organisers of the two-day festival, which takes place on Saturday July 31 and Sunday August 1. The event will also feature performances by acts such as Derry band The Undertones and English singer-songwriter Hazel O'Connor. "This is our dream line-up and we're very excited to have people of the calibre of Sharon Shannon, Mundy and Shane MacGowan, the Undertones and Hazel O'Connor coming to Athlone," said festival organiser Ultan Moran. In total, 25 to 30 acts are due to perform at the festival, which is now provisionally expected to take place at Athlone Town Stadium in conjunction with Athlone Town Stadium Ltd. Two-day tickets for the festival are set to go on sale from ticketmaster.ie at noon on Saturday and they should also be available from Sean's Bar and other outlets in the midlands from next week onwards. "We're offering a special early bird deal of €50 for the two-day ticket and this will be available until the end of March," said Mr Moran. He said it's hoped the festival will become an annual event over the coming five years but this will depend on the support it receives from the people of Athlone. "We have the headline acts in place for this year and we think there's potential to have a decent festival in the town every year but in order to do that we need the people of Athlone to get behind the festival and give us their support." In addition to the main headliners, local group The Fabulous Bonker Boys, the Tullamore band Hogan, Liam Byrne (a Christy Moore tribute act), Brighton band Two Spot Gobi and Plymouth-based folk-rock act Mad Dog Mcrea have all been confirmed for the festival. Mr Moran, a native of Assumption Road who is based in England, said the search for other acts to perform at the festival was continuing and he thanked JJ Galvin's pub in Clara for hosting a showcase of local talent for the festival organisers. Headliners Sharon Shannon, Mundy and Shane MacGowan recently gave a live televised performance as a trio, ringing in the new year at the INEC in Killarney. They performed a series of the hits they have recorded over the years, such as Galway Girl, Fairytale of New York and A Rainy Night in Soho. The Athlone Music Festival coincides with the end of the European People's Festival, which takes place in Athlone from July 24-31 and is expected to draw thousands of visitors to the town from various parts of Ireland and Europe.