Joyous celebration of Eid festival for Muslims at Offaly centre

After 29 days of fasting from food and drink members of the Muslim community in Offaly and the wider Midlands gathered in Tullamore on Friday morning to celebrate the culmination of Ramadan, the Eid festival.

Hundreds of women, men and children congregated at St Mary's Youth Centre to celebrate the end of the fast in prayers led by Iman Shaykh Mohamed Abdo at 8am.

Tullamore resident, Asad, proprietor of the popular Shishir restaurant and one of the chief organisers of the celebration, said people would spend the day visiting family and friends after the prayer service concluded.

“It's like Christmas for us,” explained Asad who said Muslims were totally forbidden from fasting on the day.

Asad, who himself started fasting at the tender age of seven, said people from a host of nations including Ireland, Britain, Egypt, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine, were present at the celebration.

Dr Osama, a surgeon at the Midland Regional Hospital at Tullamore, who was one of the pioneers that initiated the Eid celebration over two decades ago, said the event had grown from strength to strength over the years.

He revealed it was hoped to develop a Midlands Islamic Cultural Centre in Tullamore in the near future to serve the Midlands counties.

In a brief sermon, Iman Shaykh Mohamed Abdo exhorted the congregation to give thanks to God, to celebrate and to be happy on a joyous occasion.