Donegal fiddle player left fuming after instrument damaged in airport incident

A renowned Donegal fiddle player says she is devastated after her antique 19th century fiddle was seriously damaged while checking in through security at Dublin airport.
Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh says she was travelling to Shetland in Scotland to do some recording when the delicate instrument was taken out and examined by security staff and then placed back in its case unfastened, and it fell from the case as she went to pick it up.
She said she her normal procedure when arriving at an airport is that she would be expected to take the fiddle from the case to present to security staff but claims this not done on this occasion and it was taken from her for examination.
She said after her fiddle case fell to the ground she also lost a personal trinket that she carried in the case for good luck, given to her by another fiddle player.
Speaking on Highland Radio this morning she said the fiddle was given to her by her late father and the damage to it could effect her livelihood as a musician as she is unable to tune it following the fall.
She said the instrument was delicate and valuable and the loss of it was “devastating” as it was priceless to her.
The former Donegal person of the year and member of Altan says she has travelled with this fiddle “thousands” of times without incident and the loss of its use was like “losing a family member”.
She posted images of the damage to her Facebook page added she was “so mad” at what happened.
She says she has raised the matter with Dublin Airport Authority.

The image shared by Mairead via Facebook