Everybody is being urged to get behind local musicians Na Fianna this Sunday when they represent the east on RTÉ's All Ireland Talent Show at 6.30pm. The band received the highest result from the judges after their last RTE performance and now they need your votes to get to the next stage.
Ross Hennessy from Loughboy in Kilkenny is nervous that this could well be the band’s last week in the show if the people of Kilkenny don’t row in behind them and vote between 7.30 and 8.30 on Sunday night.
“The competition is stiff this week for the wild card slot and we can only do our best. But we really need the crowd to text in and vote for us or it won’t matter how good we are. “
The band are playing together since 2007 and have developed a good reputation for themselves in the Kilkenny/Laois counties. They would love to win the show outright and have great plans if this happened.
“It would be fantastic publicity for the band if we won. The prize is €50k! We would be so excited to win and if we did we are going to record a new album of our music in a professional studio. This would be a dream come true for us,” said Ross who plays the mandolin in the band.
Na Fianna have travelled all over the country seeking support since they learned of their wildcard slot.
In Kilkenny they performed a number of charity shows including a fundraising event for Haiti in St Mary’s Cathedral, a performance for the Rape Crisis Centre in MacDonagh Junction and a concert in The Friary, Callan, that raised money for Chernobyl.
They have also visited schools all over the country, togged out with Brian Cody and the Kilkenny senior team and they even canvassed politicians John and Andrew McGuinness for support.
The band are very proud of the fact that they play Irish music, and representing Kilkenny and indeed the East is something they do not take for granted. In a competition which pits region against region, as well as act against act, it's more than personal pride at stake - it's the pride of place that's paramount.
“In many communities in Ireland sessions were and are an integral part of community life. All three families’ houses would have been known as rambling houses in the past and it was in these where the passion music and song was fostered,” said Ross.
The band are now asking all our readers to give them their support on Sunday when they perform on RTE 1.
“We can’t do this without public support. The wildcard show is all about votes and if we don’t get the votes we don’t get through. We are delighted with the reactions from Kilkenny supporters as we travelled around but now we really need everybody to text in their vote for us on Sunday,” said Damian Walsh (bodhran and vocals ).
“And remember, you can vote as many times as you like, so vote at the right times stated on the screen and vote often.
No matter what the end result is on Sunday Na Fianna would like to say a big thanks to their family, friends and all of their supporters in Kilkenny.
