Donal Lunny: Striking a chord with everyone

From Kate Bush to Mozaik, Donal Lunny has always pushed boundaries, writes Ed Power

KATE BUSH said ‘yes’ immediately. It was 1995 and Donal Lunny, composer, producer and folk icon, was curating a compilation of Irish traditional tunes, under the title Common Ground: Voices of Modern Irish Music.

It was an overview of trad, but in the context of pop and rock (Bono, Sinead O’Connor and Elvis Costello were on board). But for the old nationalist ballad, ‘Mná na hEireann’, Lunny wanted Bush.