# Is This Where Riverdance Really Started?



## Lex Foutish (3 Feb 2012)

I was trawling through Youtube a few nights ago and came across Cathal Dunne's "Happy Man." It was our Eurovision entry in 1979. All of us in Cork were really up for it, at the time, because Cathal was Taoiseach Jack Lynch's nephew.

It was held in Israel and the Israeli tv channel did a national feature on each country before its entry was performed. Their Irish feature is at the start of the Youtube clip. It's hilarious and got me wondering if Riverdance's roots or inspiration go all the way back to that night . . . 

Enjoy!


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## micmclo (4 Feb 2012)

Damn, that's a catchy tune 
Stuck in my head now

As for the clothes, shaking my head
The seventies, the decade that style forgot

And what am I watching here. Dwarves dancing?


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## Lex Foutish (4 Feb 2012)

And being a true Corkonian, his video was all shot around Town. Sure, 'tis no wonder he was a Happy Man!


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## micmclo (4 Feb 2012)

Cork looking well in the video
Is he on top of some castle or tower after the one minute mark? Is that a castle?

How did this lad not win yet Johnny Logan won the next year???
No doubt the Corkonians feel hard done by, world is against them, persecution complex


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## Marion (4 Feb 2012)

Is he still around in the city like? 

In fairness Lex we could have seen a bit more of the city. The clip was fairly limited.

Marion


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## Lex Foutish (4 Feb 2012)

micmclo said:


> Cork looking well in the video
> Is he on top of some castle or tower after the one minute mark? Is that a castle?
> 
> How did this lad not win yet Johnny Logan won the next year???
> No doubt the Corkonians feel hard done by, world is against them, persecution complex


 
I'm almost certain that's Blackrock Castle, Micmclo. He's in UCC and coming out of Shandon as well.

And, yes, we did feel very hard done by that year but we blamed the Israelis for punishing Jack Lynch's government for being pro Palestinian.


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## micmclo (4 Feb 2012)

He should re-release the song
Is he still around these days?

We sure could do with a bit of cheer these days

Nothing wrong with a bit of retro, sure Abba are rich as can be and still selling plenty


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## Lex Foutish (4 Feb 2012)

Marion said:


> Is he still around in the city like?
> 
> In fairness Lex we could have seen a bit more of the city. The clip was fairly limited.
> 
> Marion


 
He must be around alright, Marion. I was stopped at traffic lights at Turners Cross last week and there was a concert poster of his on display on a wall there.

The clip is a probably a little limited, I suppose, but, they probably could only squeeze so much of the Beautiful City into a few minutes.

If I were producing it, I'd have him tearing into a pork salad sandwich and a pint of Cork's finest in a particular hostelry inside in Town.


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## Lex Foutish (4 Feb 2012)

micmclo said:


> He should re-release the song
> Is he still around these days?
> 
> We sure could do with a bit of cheer these days
> ...


 
Yeah, I'm a bit of a retro head myself too. I spend a few hours every week digging up a few gems on Youtube. Watch this space . . . . . . .


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## Marion (4 Feb 2012)

What's it called  again the "Enda Inn" or something like that? 

Marion


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## micmclo (4 Feb 2012)

Wonder if he got selected with his connections in high places 

Reminds me of when John O'Donoghue was Minster for Sports, Arts and Tourism. And the bull was well known for showering the money on his favoured Kerry projects

His niece was entered in Rose of Tralee
A fix I tell ya, she was guaranteed to win. Sure the bull has huge pull in Kerry, he'll tell them to fix it

I put two weeks wages on her to win it and told everyone to back her. 

Lost 
Lived on beans and noodles for the next while, bad times

Damn politician. He fixes everything else in Kerry and was always pulling in favours.
But when I needed him to be corrupt he failed me


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## Marion (4 Feb 2012)

Seems his minions let him down at that time as well as not remembering that he built them his community centre.

Marion


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## Lex Foutish (4 Feb 2012)

Marion said:


> What's it called again the "Enda Inn" or something like that?
> 
> Marion


 
Something like that! Actually I think Enda was in Cork tonight. I passed the City Hall around half 9 and there were a lot of motor cycle cops there. Someone said that Enda was in there. He'd only have had to walk a few hundred yards to sample the aforementioned delights.


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## Lex Foutish (4 Feb 2012)

micmclo said:


> Wonder if he got selected with his connections in high places
> 
> Reminds me of when John O'Donoghue was Minster for Sports, Arts and Tourism. And the bull was well known for showering the money on his favoured Kerry projects
> 
> ...


 
I actually half know him and meet him around Kerry now and again. I had a few pints in his company a few times. A very entertaining man. By total coincidence, I was close by in Cork Airport when Ryanair refused to allow him board the flight to Dublin because he didn't have proper ID. Sometimes all the power in the world is no use to ya!


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## Marion (4 Feb 2012)

I bet Aer lingus would have let him travel.


Marion


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## Lex Foutish (4 Feb 2012)

Marion said:


> I bet Aer lingus would have let him travel.
> 
> 
> Marion


 
The funniest part was that he came out the door of the airport and hopped into the State car and was driven straight to Dublin.


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## micmclo (4 Feb 2012)

No wonder he was fond of using the government jet so

And I think I've ruined the Happy Man thread with my talk of the bull

So get onto Cathal there and have him release it again, number one for sure


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## Marion (4 Feb 2012)

Lex Foutish said:


> The funniest part was that he came out the door of the airport and hopped into the State car and was driven straight to Dublin.



I'm totally shocked  by this revelation.

I'm surprised he didn't request a State airplane/helicopter - oops maybe Martin Cullen or Mary Harney had already commissioned it at the time.

Marion


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## micmclo (4 Feb 2012)

Or Bertie who wasn't happy about being landed in air corp HQ in Baldonnel
So would instruct them to land in Dublin airport so he could be home in Drumcondra quickly

And then the air corp plane has to fly back to Baldonnel

Costs thousands and thousands to fuel and maintain these jets every hour. 
All that money so someone gets home twenty minutes earlier


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## Lex Foutish (4 Feb 2012)

micmclo said:


> No wonder he was fond of using the government jet so
> 
> *And I think I've ruined the Happy Man thread with my talk of the bull*
> 
> So get onto Cathal there and have him release it again, number one for sure


 
Yes, let's get back on thread. 

Now, Micmclo, wasn't Jack Lynch a great Taoiseach . . . . . . . ?


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## Marion (4 Feb 2012)

Shame about the FF pedigree. But was a good person

Marion


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## micmclo (4 Feb 2012)

Shame about the Cork pedigree too


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## Marion (4 Feb 2012)

micmclo said:


> Shame about the Cork pedigree too





Marion


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## Lex Foutish (4 Feb 2012)

Marion said:


> Shame about the FF pedigree.
> 
> Marion


 
5 All Ireland Hurling medals and 1 All Ireland Football medal. Just as well he wasn't born somewhere else!


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## Marion (4 Feb 2012)

Nice - great achievement.

Cork needs talent to give it identity. 

Marion


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## Lex Foutish (4 Feb 2012)

Marion said:


> Nice - great achievement.
> 
> Cork needs talent to give it identity.
> 
> Marion


 
Talent is only one of our outstanding characteristics. Humility is another.


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## Marion (4 Feb 2012)

You've got me on that one. No further response. 

Marion


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## micmclo (4 Feb 2012)

Times have changed, I don't know what he'd say if we told him Dublin are no longer the jackeens of Ireland, it's the Corkonians now


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## Lex Foutish (4 Feb 2012)

micmclo said:


> Times have changed, I don't know what he'd say if we told him Dublin are no longer the jackeens of Ireland, it's the Corkonians now


 
One will not allow oneself to be dragged into an argument or debate on this matter. One is tired and one is going to bed. Good night, Micmclo.


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## Purple (4 Feb 2012)

Marion said:


> In fairness Lex we could have seen a bit more of the city. The clip was fairly limited.
> 
> Marion


They showed all the good bits


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## Purple (4 Feb 2012)

Lex Foutish said:


> Talent is only one of our outstanding characteristics. Humility is another.



Yes but all that false modesty takes away from it


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## Firefly (6 Feb 2012)

Purple said:


> They showed all the good bits


 
If they showed the best bits from Dublin it would have been rather dull now that works are almost complete....I mean the M1, M3 and M8 are all pretty much similiar now


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## TarfHead (6 Feb 2012)

As I get older, my memory become less and less reliable. But, at the mention of Happy Man, I can remember the tune and some of the chorus.

"_I'm in love and I'm alive, happy man_"

Why can't I forget THAT and remwember the important stuff  ? I guess back then, we didn't have so much distraction to clutter our impressionable brains.


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## cobalt (6 Feb 2012)

Lex Foutish said:


> Is this where Riverdance really started?


 No - this is. Too much beer and too few toilets.


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## Marion (6 Feb 2012)

cobalt said:


> No - this is. Too much beer and too few toilets.





That is brilliant.

Marion


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## Lex Foutish (9 Feb 2012)

cobalt said:


> No - this is. Too much beer and too few toilets.


 
That is so funny, Cobalt.


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## micmclo (10 Feb 2012)

cobalt said:


> No - this is. Too much beer and too few toilets.



Have watched this a few times

Hilarious


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