Primary School Finalists

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This section lists the six Primary Finalists, as well as Commended schools, selected in the 2024 Waltons RTÉ lyric fm Music for Schools Competition. We received an unprecedented number of excellent entries in 2024, which led us to create a new ‘commended’ category, Very Highly Commended, in addition to the existing Highly Commended and Commended categories, for performing groups that display re promise. All Commended, Highly Commended and Very Highly Commended performers receive certificates acknowledging their achievement.

Schools are listed in alphabetical order, and the Primary Finalist entry videos, as well as how the groups addressed the 2024 Competition theme, Music Moves, are below these.

Finalists

• Carrig National School, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary
• Corpus Christi Primary School, Moyross, Co. Limerick
• Gaelscoil Aonach Urmhumhan, An Taonoch, Co. Tipperary
• Knockanean National School, Ennis, Co. Clare
• LurgyBrack National School, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal
• St. Teresa’s National School, Killoe, Co. Longford

Very Highly Commended

• Bunscoil Loreto, Gorey, Co. Wexford
• Danescastle National School, Carrig on Bannow, Co. Wexford
• Gaelscoil larfhlatha, Tuam, Co. Galway
• Scoil Chuiín agus Caitríona, Oughterard, Co. Galway
• St. Ciarán’s National School, Baylin, Co. Westmeath

Highly Commended

• Kilbrittain National School, Kilbrittain, Co. Cork
• Kill O’ The Grange National School, Deansgrange, Co. Dublin
• Kilmeen National School, Clonakilty, Co. Cork
• Monaleen National School, Castletroy, Co. Limerick
• Moyasta National School, Moyasta, Co. Clare
• Scoil Íosagáin, Farranree, Co. Cork
• Scoil na Mainistreach Quin Dangan, Quin, Co. Clare
• St. Oliver Plunkett National School, Athenry, Co. Galway
• St. Pius X Girls National School, Terenure, Dublin 6W
• Sutton Park School, Sutton, Dublin 13

Commended

• Castletown Primary School, Castletown, Co. Laois
• Clonown National School, Athlone, Co. Roscommon
• Holy Rosary School, Wicklow, Co. Wicklow
• Inchicore National School, Dublin 1
• Our Lady’s National School Clonskeagh, Churchtown, Co. Dublin
• Scoil Bhride, Galway, Co. Galway
• Scoil Eoin Baiste, Kells, Co. Meath
• St. Annin’s National School, Rosscahill, Co. Galway
• St. Christopher’s Primary School, Dublin 4
• St. Kilian’s Senior National School, Dublin 24

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Carrig National School
Nenagh, Co. Tipperary

Entry

Title ‘A Clap, a Hop, a Skip and a Jump!’
Group Carrig National School Music Group • Fifth – Sixth Class
• Laura Boland, Conductor

Addressing the Theme

The Carrig National School group deliberately included children of mixed abilities. They met every Wednesday at lunchtime and initially approached their entry with a lot of discussion about the theme. Their teacher began by asking the group to think about how music makes them move and to notice how music makes people react around them, whether it be in the car listening to the radio or in school taking part in music in the classroom. The students talked about how music can make you move in the slightest way, how your body reacts to the rhythm of the music and how it has different reactions to fast songs than to slower or more melancholic pieces. As the discussion progressed, one child pointed out that music can also move you to tears, as a feeling. They also spoke about how they could use our bodies as percussion, getting and establishing a beat by clapping or stamping their feet or even beating their chests. Over the following few weeks, the students suggested a number of different songs and pieces that could express different aspects of the theme. For example, when the student talked about music moving you emotionally, other students remembered singing ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ for a teacher’s wedding, which moved her to tears. So the song was included.

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Corpus Christi Primary School
Moyross, Co. Limerick

Entry

Title ‘Music Moves Me’
Group Corpus Christi Primary School Choir • Third – Sixth Class
• Tyrone McGuane, Piano

Addressing the Theme

‘Music Moves Me’ is an original song written by the Corpus Christi Primary School Choir, with the help of their choir teachers, in response to the 2024 Competition theme. During a choir rehearsal, the group were asked how music might move them or how music has helped them through difficult days. The choir then began to think outside the box and discussed how music has moved them, how it can be calming when you have a bad day, how it has changed their lives and even how music can help people who might be sick. The choir teachers then put the children’s own words to a melody. With children’s mental health is at the forefront at Corpus Christi Primary School, the group felt that their song was the perfect reflection of this.

Music Moves Me

Do you remember the melody
Do you remember the memories
That music gave you?
Do you remember the bittersweet
And everything that comes in between?
Music changed you
Music changed me (music changed me)
I know who I am (I know who I am)
Music saved me (music saved me)
I know where I stand (I know where I stand)
Music moves x3
Me
Music moves x3
Me

When I have a bad day
I put on my favourite song
And drift away
To a world I can call my own
A calm place that is my home
‘Cause music moved me
Music changed me (music changed me)
I know who I am (I know who I am)
Music saved me (music saved me)
I know where I stand (I know where I stand)
Music moves x3
Me
Music moves x3
Me….

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Gaelscoil Aonach Urmhumhan
Aonach Urmhumhan, Co. Tipperary

Entry

Title ‘Imithe Uainn ach Fós Linn’ (A Musical Legacy)
Group Ceolfhoireann na Gaelscoile • Second – Sixth Class
• Orla McNamara, Conductor • Lisa Duffy, Violin

Addressing the Theme

When the children brainstormed the ‘Music Moves’ theme, they considered the many ways in which music moves us – emotionally, physically and spiritually – providing the soundtrack to our lives in both its ups and its downs. Music is also the background and facilitator to dance and movement, inspiring many genres of interpretation and expression. The launch of the 2024 Competition coincided with the funeral of Shane MacGowan in Nenagh, the school’s town. The students were all moved by the event, the occasion and the legacy of Shane’s music. And this led to a broader conversation about other great Irish musicians who passed away last year, including Sinéad O’Connor, Séamus Begley and Christy Dignam. This gave the group their focus and inspiration for their entry this year – a tribute to and a celebration of these artists. Dolores O’Riordan was also widely mentioned by the students after the Rugby World Cup, when Zombie became an unofficial anthem. So although her death happened earlier, the group felt that they had to include her as well.

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Knockanean National School
Ennis, Co. Clare

Entry

Title ‘Stepping Through the River of Sound’
Group Knockanean Choir and Music Club • First – Sixth Class
• Louise Conheady, Conductor • Amy McEnnis, Piano

Addressing the Theme

The Knockanean Music Club, which is open to all students who are interested in participating, has always played different genres of music, from Irish traditional to classical to pop. So when they heard what the 2024 Competition was, the first thing that came to mind was how music of all genres can move us both emotionally and physically in different ways. Some genres we may love, some we may not, but no matter the genre we are moved in some way. Giving children the opportunity to experiment with different genres opens up new sound worlds for them, and this is what their teachers hoped to achieve in this piece. The students were central to the piece’s development in different ways. To start with, they had a lot more than five minutes’ worth of pieces and songs, so they had to decide what stayed and what went. Also, although the pieces are the work of other artists, the group tried to make them their own by developing new arrangements, coming up with different transition ideas and changing the lyrics to suit the piece. The opening of ‘All is Found’, the first song, tells of ‘a river full of memory’. At the beginning of their piece, the singers are brought in on this ‘river of sound’, where all genres fit together, can be played over each other and can be harmonised. Music, no matter the genre, can work in harmony to create a piece that can move you.

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Lurgybrack National School
Letterkenny, Co. Donegal

Entry

Title ‘Moving On’
Group Midday Music Group • Third – Sixth Class
• Brighdín Carr, Conductor

Addressing the Theme

Lurgybrack has a voluntary after-school band, in-school choir and after-school drama group. Together they decided to write an original song for the Competition as the senior members of their band, who have been musical role models for the younger students during the Covid years, will be moving on to post-primary school and they wanted celebrate the idea of the older students physically moving on but always being there for the younger students – a tradition in their school community. During an after-school songwriting workshop they held to develop the song, Joshua, a Sixth Class student, introduced a chord progression on bass guitar that he had written as a starting point. The rest of the group listened to the piece, two Fifth Class students identified melodies to fit the chords and the group wrote down any words that came to mind when listening to the piece. These were discussed, and individual students were asked to choose one and brainstorm words that rhymed with it. One child introduced the word ‘Croí’ (her own name) as it rhymed with ‘free’, and that gave them the idea of creating a bilingual piece. They then discussed the themes of belief, change, moving on and heartbeat. The idea in the end was to include every child’s word and voice in the final song. They tweaked some chordal structures to create a chorus that they believed showcased their message, and as the song was developed, what seemed to permeate the theme was the idea that the older children and teachers were represented by a heartbeat, and that this is constant and always there – nurturing, supporting, facilitating and growing.

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St. Teresa’s National School
Killoe, Co. Longford

Entry

Title ‘Music Moving Us in Many Ways’
Group St. Teresa’s Killoe Performing Group • Second – Sixth Class
• Gráinne Fox, Piano

Addressing the Theme

When children from Second to Sixth class who wanted to take part in the Music for Schools project met to brainstorm on the 2024 theme, it meant different things to different people. Some talked about how music moves through time, through the decades and through different genres, while others came up with the idea that music moves us through the seasons. Dividing the larger group into smaller ones, one group focused on how music makes us move our bodies and how different types of music make us move in different ways. Another group focused on how music can move us emotionally. They discussed all of these ideas. The students then brought in the instruments they played and suggested songs and tunes that they thought would be suitable to bring their ideas to life. They then worked on parts of different songs that were suggested and composed their own piece to represent the changing of the seasons. The piece starts with a rain stick and body percussion to represent the sound of raindrops – starting from a light autumn drizzle and becoming heavier as the season changes. Percussion instruments join the heavy stamping of feet to represent a winter storm, along with the crash of the cymbals to represent lightning and thunder. The rain eases off as the season changes again, and the chords of D and G on the chime bars represent the sun coming out and the season of spring and new life. The glockenspiels bring some happy descending scales to represent summer, which brings the children such joy.

Post-Primary School Finalists

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This section lists the six Post-Primary Finalists, as well as Commended schools, selected in the 2024 Waltons RTÉ lyric fm Music for Schools Competition. We received an unprecedented number of excellent entries in 2024, which led us to create a new ‘commended’ category, Very Highly Commended, in addition to the existing Highly Commended and Commended categories, for performing groups that display re promise. All Commended performers receive certificates acknowledging their achievement.

Schools are listed in alphabetical order, and the Post-Primary Finalist entry videos, as well as how the groups addressed the 2024 Competition theme, Music Moves, are below these.

Finalists

• East Glendalough School, Wicklow, Co. Wicklow
• Loreto Secondary School, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin
• Lucan Community College, Lucan, Co. Dublin
• Scoil Mhuire, Trim, Co. Meath
• St. Mary’s Secondary School, Edenderry, Co. Offaly
• St. Mary’s Secondary School, Macroom, Co. Cork

Very Highly Commended

• Boherue Comprehensive School, Mallow, Co. Cork
• Borrisokane Community College, Borrisokane, Co. Tipperary
• Coláiste Abbain, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford
• Coláiste Éanna (Entry 1), Rathfarnham, Dublin 16
• De La Salle College, Dundalk, Co. Louth
• Laurel Hill Secondary School, Limerick, Co. Limerick
• Mercy Secondary School, Tralee, Co. Kerry
• Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne, Daingean Uí Chúis, Co. Kerry
• Sancta Maria College, Louisburgh, Co. Mayo
• St. Anne’s Community College, Killaloe, Co. Clare
• Terence MacSwiney Community College, Knocknaheeney, Co. Cork

Highly Commended

• Assumption Secondary School, Walkinstown, Dublin 12
• Castletroy College, Castletroy, Co. Limerick
• Coláiste Chill Mhantáin, Burkeen, Co. Wicklow
• Coláiste Éanna (Entry 2), Rathfarnham, Dublin 16
• Ennistymon Community School, Ennistymon, Co. Clare
• Meán Scoil Mhuire (Entry 1), Longford Town, Co. Longford
• Meán Scoil Mhuire (Entry 2), Longford Town, Co. Longford
• St. Fergal’s College, Rathdowney, Co. Laois
• St. Joseph’s Secondary School, Rochfortbridge, Co. Westmeath
• The King’s Hospital School, Old Lucan Road, Dublin 20

Commended

• Ardgillan Community School, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin
• Coláiste Éanna (Entry 3), Rathfarnham, Dublin 16
• St. Finian’s College, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath
• St. Paul’s College, Sybil Hill Road, Dublin 5
• Ursuline College, Finisklin, Co. Sligo

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East Glendalough School
Wicklow, Co. Wicklow

Entry

Title ‘Emotion in Motion’
Group East Glendalough School Ensemble • First – Sixth Year

Addressing the Theme

Throughout the development process of East Glendalough School’s entry, the students played a central role in shaping every aspect of their performance. In addressing the theme, the group drew inspiration from the profound emotional impact of music. The song selection process was a collective effort from all year groups. To start with, the students submitted their song ideas and what ‘moving music’ meant to them on Google forms. After careful consideration and listening sessions, the group then selected pieces that resonated with them on in different ways, whether through their lyrical depth, evocative melodies or infectious rhythms. In developing their entry, many students took complete ownership of their parts. For example, the guitar players formed a group and worked together to practice strumming patterns and chord progressions, with senior students taking on a leadership role. The dancers also choreographed their own dances to these songs. The Fifth Year music class in particular applied their knowledge of harmony they were learning in Leaving Cert. Music to analyse the songs and chords and provide insightful, educated input in rehearsals. Finally, the students shared their thoughts and feelings when performing these songs, and the words that came to mind were displayed behind the group, decorated by the First Year music class.

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Loreto Secondary School
Balbriggan, Co. Dublin

Entry

Title ‘The Joy of Movement’
Group LorBal Perfomance Group • First – Sixth Year

Addressing the Theme

Choosing the songs in response to the 2024 theme was a joint venture between students and teachers. To start with, a Google doc was set up, and all students were asked to suggest any songs or pieces that they could think of that addressed the theme. The group then met to discuss their choices. Given that the theme could be interpreted in many different ways, they first had to reach a consensus on what approach to take. In the end, they decided that their chosen pieces would tell the story of an emotional journey, moving from moments of sombre reflection to more upbeat and happier times. The changes in tempo throughout the piece also embody the movement of music, as does the movement through different genres in the songs and pieces. Their final selection included ‘Time After Time’ by Cyndi Lauper, ‘O’Sullivan’s March’ by O’Carolan, ‘Pompeii’ by Bastill, ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ by Journey and ‘Freedom’ by Jon Batiste. Finally, they worked collaboratively on arrangements of the songs and pieces based around the students’ abilities and skill levels.

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Lucan Community College
Lucan, Co. Dublin

Entry

Title ‘Last One Stepping’
Group & Co. • Third – Sixth Year

Addressing the Theme

The response by this group of Third-Sixth Year students to the Music for Schools Competition was entirely student led regarding song choice, rehearsals and execution. Their teacher gave them free rein to express themselves creatively, but he assisted them with access to school facilities such as the music room, as well as with their application. When they heard the 2024 Competition theme, they immediately thought of ‘Simple Step’ by Vulfpeck, as the very essence of this song is how music can move people not only physically but also metaphorically. However, they knew they needed something more, so they decided to mix it with ‘Last One Standing’ by Monophonics. This was one of the first songs some of them had learned together, so it represented their moving and growing as a group.

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Scoil Mhuire
Trim, Co. Meath

Entry

Title ‘Home Is Where the Music Is’
Group Scoil Mhuire Performing Group • First – Sixth Year

Addressing the Theme

The competition group from Scoil Mhuire is made up of students from First to Sixth Year, as their music teacher wanted to give all year groups the opportunity to participate. The group came together before Christmas and were asked to think about what ‘Music Moves’ meant to them over the weekend. Their piece, which tells the story of Irish emigration, was inspired by a number of factors. Initially, four students came back with the same idea – to tell the story of how the Irish had to emigrate and how they brought their music and culture with them. The idea arose because members of these students’ own families had done this. As the group developed the idea further, Sixth Year students who are in the school’s traditional music group started reminiscing about their trip to Chicago in 2019 where they represented Ireland at a music festival. They remembered the enthusiasm of their American audiences and experienced first-hand the power of music to move people. Chicago is home to many in the Irish diaspora, and the students also remembered that after one particular performance, a number of people in the audience were in tears as the group performed and told them afterwards that it felt like a ‘home from home’ for them. Finally, the group wanted their piece to end on a positive, optimistic note – the hope of anyone with a relative living abroad that he/she will one day return home, where the music is.

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St. Mary’s Secondary School
Edenderry, Co. Offaly

Entry

Title ‘Music Moves Us from Birth to Death in Times of Sadness and in Joy’
Group SME • First – Sixth Year

Addressing the Theme

When the group discussed the theme, they decided to represent it as an emotional journey through life. They started with ‘Caoineadh Cú Chulainn’ by Bill Whelan. This lament by Cú Chulainn over the body of his son, whom he had unknowingly killed in battle, represented sadness and death. They decided to include the next song, ‘Ireland’s Call’ by Phil Coulter, remembering their resource student singing it at a recent show and bringing the house down. This represented how music moves us with patriotism and passion. The piece moves on to ‘Rorogwela’, a song that they felt represents birth and innocence. The song is based around a traditional Baegu lullaby from the Solomon Islands, and the lyrics refer to a young orphan being comforted by his older brother despite the loss of their parents: ‘Do not cry, do not cry, I will carry you.’ The students sing the first verse in Baegu. Finally, they decided to finish their piece with ‘Komodo (Save a Soul)’ by Mauro Picotto, an upbeat dance track that uses the ‘Rorogwela’ melody but adds more uplifting lyrics – ‘come together, be as one’ – to show unity in their community, and that music moves us physically as well as emotionally. They developed their own harmonies and countermelodies with traditional instruments for the piece, which begins with a calm relaxed vibe and builds to a euphoric finish. Music moves us from birth to death in times of sadness and in joy.

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St. Mary’s Secondary School
Macroom, Co. Cork

Entry

Title ‘Music Connects Our Minds, Bodies and Souls’
Group Ceol le Chéile • 39 members, Second – Sixth Year
• Aoife Donovan, Piano

Addressing the Theme

The group’s entry was the result of a collaboration among music students, the school choir and the school traditional music group. When the students were invited to meet at lunchtime to brainstorm ideas, they decided that they could represent the theme in two ways. The first was physical movement, and they explored the power of music to inspire physical expression. They incorporated this in their song choices with a student-choreographed dance. The second way, which resonated strongly with the students, was the ability of music to move someone emotionally. The school had lost a teacher last year, and music played a huge role in helping the entire school community to come to terms with their grief. The music that students performed at mass and services provided a source of comfort and reflection for the school. The song ‘Rise Up’ reflects the power of music to provide us with hope and comfort. On a broader level, students discussed the power of music to move people in these turbulent times of war and conflict around the world, and they felt that the song ‘Zombie’ connected well with the theme. Finally, the instrumentation and arrangement of the performance was very much student-led, and the students even composed a reel based around the chords of ‘Zombie’, which allowed them to incorporate Irish dance. Choreography was realised by the dancers themselves, with group’s drummer coming up with a suitable rhythmic accompaniment.

Standout Award

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This section includes an excellent entry in the 2024 Competition from a school in Co. Cork that will receive our first Standout Award.

Scoil Bernadette
Montenotte, Co. Cork

Entry

Title ‘Bai Oh’
Group Scoil Ber Samba Band
• Rob Hamilton, Leader • Niall Honohan, Snare Drum

Addressing the Theme

The Scoil Ber Samba Band are familiar with several different samba rhythms and had a vote to decide on the best to enter the Music for Schools Competition with. Samba is music of the Brazilian carnival and is made for parading and movement, so most of the students chose ‘Bai Oh’ (pronounced By Oh) as the group already had some of the movements for it. When preparing their entry, the group developed some new movements for the rhythm and also decided to involve the audience as much as possible. Since ‘Music Moves’, they wanted their music to move the audience – and to get them moving as well!

Finalists Concert

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Videos, in concert order, of the thirteen school music groups performing in the Waltons RTÉ lyric fm Music for Schools Competition 2024 Finalists Concert in the National Concert Hall on 8 April 2024.

See the Finalists Concert Programme

Lurgybrack National School
Letterkenny, Co. Donegal

Title ‘Moving On’
Group Midday Music Group • Third – Sixth Class

East Glendalough School
Wicklow, Co. Wicklow

Title ‘Emotion in Motion’
Group East Glendalough School Ensemble • First – Sixth Year

Carrig National School
Nenagh, Co. Tipperary

Title ‘A Clap, a Hop, a Skip and a Jump!’
Group Carrig National School Music Group • Fifth – Sixth Class
• Laura Boland, Conductor

St. Mary’s Secondary School
Edenderry, Co. Offaly

Title ‘Music Moves Us from Birth to Death in Times of Sadness and in Joy’
Group SME • First – Sixth Year

Gaelscoil Aonach Urmhumhan
Aonach Urmhumhan, Co. Tipperary

Title ‘Imithe Uainn ach Fós Linn’ (A Musical Legacy)
Group Ceolfhoireann na Gaelscoile • Second – Sixth Class
• Orla McNamara, Conductor

Loreto Secondary School
Balbriggan, Co. Dublin

Title ‘The Joy of Movement’
Group LorBal Perfomance Group • First – Sixth Year

Scoil Bernadette
Montenotte, Co. Cork

Title ‘Bai Oh’
Group Scoil Ber Samba Band
• Rob Hamilton, Leader • Niall Honohan, Snare Drum

Corpus Christi Primary School
Moyross, Co. Limerick

Title ‘Music Moves Me’
Group Corpus Christi Primary School Choir • Third – Sixth Class
• Sarah Alley, Conductor • Tyrone McGuane, Piano

Scoil Mhuire
Trim, Co. Meath

Entry

Title ‘Home Is Where the Music Is’
Group Scoil Mhuire Performing Group • First – Sixth Year

St. Teresa’s National School
Killoe, Co. Longford

Title ‘Music Moving Us in Many Ways’
Group St. Teresa’s Killoe Performing Group • Second – Sixth Class
• Gráinne Fox, Piano

Lucan Community College
Lucan, Co. Dublin

Title ‘Last One Stepping’
Group & Co. • Third – Sixth Year

Knockanean National School
Ennis, Co. Clare

Title ‘Stepping Through the River of Sound’
Group Knockanean Choir and Music Club • First – Sixth Class
• Louise Conheady, Conductor • Amy McEnnis, Piano

St. Mary’s Secondary School
Macroom, Co. Cork

Title ‘Music Connects Our Minds, Bodies and Souls’
Group Ceol le Chéile • 39 members, Second – Sixth Year
• Aoife Donovan, Piano

Finalists Concert Adjudicators

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Zoë Conway

Zoë is a renowned Irish fiddle / violin player and composer, equally at home in both traditional and classical styles. She demonstrated her abilities early on by winning the All-Ireland Senior Fiddle Champion title at the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in 2001. A year later, Riverdance composer Bill Whelan (who has also been a Finalists Concert Adjudicator in 2014 and 2017), produced her first solo album, Zoë Conway. She has since recorded a second album (joined by the renowned guitarist Steve Cooney and percussionist Robbie Harris) entitled The Horse’s Tail and performed around the world, both as a solo artist and in collaboration with a diverse range of artists and groups, including Nick Cave, Dónal Lunny (also a Finalists Concert Adjudicator in 2013 and 2019), Lisa Hannigan, Máirtín O’Connor, Lou Reed, Damien Rice and Rodrigo y Gabriela, among others.

Zoë has performed at numerous international festivals, including Glastonbury, Electric Picnic, L’Orient, Tonder and WOMAD, as well as in some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls, including the National Concert Hall in Dublin, the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC, Carnegie Hall and the Broadway Gershwin Theatre in New York and such historic sites as the Great Wall of China and the Kremlin in Moscow. She was voted Best Traditional Female of the Year in Irish Music magazine and is also a featured musician on the current Leaving Certificate Music syllabus. With her husband, guitarist John McIntyre, Zoë has recorded two albums, Go Mairir i Bhfad and Zoë Conway and John McIntyre Live in Concert, and performed widely. (The BBC has called them ‘one of the best folk duos on the planet.’) She is also passionate about music education and regularly facilitates workshops and gives lectures on the merits of classical and traditional music on the violin.

Liam Ó Maonlaí

Liam has been a musician all his life, winning an under-18 All-Ireland award for his skills on the bodhrán. He first formed a band called The Complex with childhood friend Kevin Shields and drummer Colm Ó Cíosóig. He then formed a group called An Fonn Tonn with Fiachna Ó Braonáin, a schoolmate at Coláiste Eoin, to enter Slógadh, Gael Linn’s annual national music and arts competition, and the group became The Hothouse Flowers in 1984 with the addition of guitarist Peter O’Toole. (Slógadh was an important platform for young artists; it was there that Clannad, Altan and Dolores O’Riordan first gained recognition.) The Flowers began writing original songs and performing, although there was little money in it. (Calling themselves ‘The Incomparable Benzini Brothers’, Liam and Fiachna busked to make enough to pay the rent.) But the Flowers’ soon reputation grew, with Rolling Stone magazine calling them ‘the best unsigned band in Europe’. In 1986, Bono saw the group performing on television and offered his support. They released their first single, ‘Love Don’t Work This Way’, on U2’s Mother Records label, which quickly led to a deal with London Records and the release of their first album, People, the most successful debut album in Irish history.

The group has since released five more albums: Home (1990), Songs from the Rain (1993), Born (1998), Into Your Heart (2004) and Let’s Do This Thing (2016). Liam has also released two of his own albums – Rian (2005) and To Be Touched (2008) – and he has continued to perform throughout Ireland and around the world on his own, with The Hothouse Flowers and in collaboration with numerous Irish and international musicians, including Bobby McFerrin, Toumani Diabaté, Tim Finn, Andy White and traditional musicians in America, Australia, Europe, India, Japan, Morocco and Scandinavia. His 2008 documentary Dambé: The Mali Project tells the story of his 5,000-kilometre cross-cultural musical adventure with the uilleann piper Paddy Keenan and friends, and features performances from the Festival au Désert in Mali.

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Zoë and Liam were joined as adjudicators by Aideen Walton, Co-Director of the Waltons RTÉ lyric fm Music for Schools Competition.