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Irish stars help Children In Need BY HILARY O’SHAUGHNESSY
A British children’s charity is set to benefit from a concert featuring
a group of top Irish musicians and singers.
As part of the annual BBC Children In Need appeal Irish country music
singer Daniel O’Donnell and a host of other stars will perform at
a fundraising concert.
The event will air on Coventry and Warwickshire’s The Bob Brolly
Show at 1pm on Monday October 22.
The three-hour sold-out concert, the charity’s largest regional
event outside London, was the brainchild of BBC radio presenter Bob Brolly.
Derry-born Brolly, who presents the station’s Irish show on Sunday
mornings, admits there was a conscious effort to ensure a strong Irish
influence at the event.
He said “Everything I do has an Irishness to it. Everything we do
up here is loved, the Irishness is loved.”
Donegal Crooner Daniel O’Donnell regularly appears on Brolly’s
show.
And both thought the upcoming launch of his new album Duets with Mary
Duff would be a good opportunity to raise money for the charity.
Brolly said: “I put it to the boss, look we’re going to do
my programme from the stage, me and Daniel O’Donnell, we’ll
sell tickets at a tenner, we’ll raise £20,000 and we’ll
have a bit of fun.”
Brolly has Irish viewers in Canada, the US and Australia eagerly awaiting
the concert, which they can view live on the internet.
And eager O’Donnell fans have already looked for advance permission
to pitch overnight tents to grab front row seats for the concert, ensuring
it will be a big success — a success Brolly attributes mainly to
the popularity of O’Donnell.
He said: “It’s massive, but O’Donnell does that.
“He is the biggest thing in this country at this moment in time
by a country mile.”
Among Brolly’s friends ensuring an evening of great craic are Mary
Duff, Fergal Flaherty, Irish dancing group Celtic Feet, footballer Chris
Kamara, Blake and T’Pau singer Carol Decker.
Information updates are available on the Bob Brolly website www.bobbrolly.co.uk.
For your chance to win a VIP ticket to the event enter this week’s
Irish Post competition giveaway. (See left) |
