Oireachtais are held by several Irish dance organisations globally, including An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha, An Comhdhail na Múinteoirí le Rincí Gaelacha, the World Irish Dance Association, and others.
What this means varies depending on which organisation is running the Oireachtas, and in some cases which region the dancer is in.
Some regions and organisations have very specific requirements, while sometimes eligibility is left to the discretion of the teacher.
The possible dances for the hard shoe round for both girls' and boys' competitions are treble jig and hornpipe.
Once again, the required hard shoe dance for each year is determined by age group.
In addition, any World medal holder is automatically re-qualified for the World Championship the following year, so the age group receives one additional qualifying spot for every medal holder While the majority of the competitions in the Oireachtas are solo events, schools can also bring teams to compete in eight-hand dance, figure choreography, and dance drama competitions.
Competition at the Oireachtas is sufficient to qualify the team to compete at the World Championships.
Additionally, adult ceili teams cannot qualify for the World Championships, though they may compete at the North American Nationals.
These regions are overseen by the Irish Dance Teachers' Association of North America (IDTANA), which is under the auspices of An Coimisiún le Rinci Gaelacha (CLRG), the (international) Irish dance commission.
Teachers and parent volunteers from host schools will typically set up and tear down stages, register dancers and man the stages, run the tabulation and results rooms, and do other various tasks to keep the competition running smoothly.