Parents of the country’s best Irish dancers have lashed the recent world championships amid claims around 100 children fell on stage.
Families, who blamed platforms at the Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne, circulated a video that claims to show 146 plunges.
In response to queries from the Irish Mirror, the number was described as “small” by CLRG.
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Founded in 1927, it is the world’s oldest competitive Irish dance organisation.
A spokesperson said: “A small number of competitors, stumbling or slipping during their performance, is a matter of course during competition.”
CLRG did not state how many children fell – but spectators at the championships in Canada from April 2-9 said “serious injuries” occurred on multiple days.
One alleged the stages were “unfit” and revealed at least one child was hospitalised.
The CLRG spokesperson said: “All recommended quality and care procedures were followed throughout Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne to ensure the continued quality and fitness for purpose of the dance stage.”
A witness said: “The stages were disastrous. Parents and teachers were disgusted.
“If 146 is correct, that is an extraordinary number of falls. I would not call it small.
“People were shocked at the number of falls. Michael Flatley was there one day. He could’ve seen children falling.”
Representatives for the award-winning dancer Mr Flatley were contacted for comment.
The witness added: “We saw children fall, one after the other, all week.
“Something was said halfway through the first day after some serious falls and a broken foot.
“It was said that it was the fault of kids who were practising on carpet and that carpet fibres on the shoes were causing the slips.
“A blue sticky roll was left side-stage and kids used that to take off the fibres but it had little to no effect.
“It’s claimed that 146 kids fell on the stage, including one child who was quite badly hurt.
“We fear that the stage was unfit. We questioned if it was fit for purpose.
“The championships were in Canada, so it cost thousands of euro to go. You just don’t expect to have stage concerns or, as happened with one family, to have hospital bills on top of everything else.”
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