AN IRISH dancing school from Inverclyde which has taken the world stage by storm has been honoured in their home town with a special reception.
McDade School of Irish Dance based in Greenock, which has two reigning World Champions and an All Ireland Champion, in its ranks are one of the biggest names in Irish dancing right now.
The huge success comes after world class Irish dancer Ainslee McDade, from Port Glasgow, only took over the school after the pandemic to stop it from closing.
Now the 23-year-old and all her girls have been treated to a special celebration - with the owners of Cruden Hall rolling out the emerald carpet.
Delighted Ainslee said: "I can't thank Cruden Hall enough for the celebration. I am so proud of every single one of our girls, they are so hard working.
"They deserved this celebration.
"We have had some incredible success in the last year, I can't believe it myself. I think the most important thing that I say to the girls is to work hard."
"But what is even more important is the camaraderie, we are like a family and everyone supports one another."
Now in her second year, Ainslee has mentored ten-year-old Maycie McDevitt and 11-year-old Daisy Harkness towards taking the top spots in their age group categories at the World Championships in Killarney, County Kerry, in April.
Then in July Broghan Lanigan made it an all star hat-trick when she took the U-11s All Ireland Champion title.
Ainslee, who is studying social work at university, has been dancing since she was a toddler.
She said: "The person who ran the dance school before decided to step away from it after Covid. If I didn't take it on it wouldn't be here.
"But I never imagined this kind of success. It is a big commitment but I love it. We are going from strength to strength."
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Cruden Hall stepped in to offer to throw a celebration party in honour of their success.
Mum Kirsteen Begley, whose daughter Keely, 15, competes and coaches, took on the role of organising the celebration for the dance school.
She said: "Ainslee is a fantastic teacher and it is a great dance school. We cannot thank Cruden Hall enough for offering to celebrate our success.
"It is such a great success for Inverclyde and is putting us on the map."
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