Tynan breaks a leg ahead of sellout show

Tenor Ronan Tynan had an unusual emergency ahead of his sellout performance at the National Concert Hall in Dublin last night.

The bilateral amputee, who walks with the aid of prosthetics and often jests about his height being "adjustable", performed wearing shortened limbs before a capacity crowd, which included President Mary McAleese.

The substitute legs, designed for riding rather than performing, were twelve inches shorter than the ones that normally carry his 6 ft 4 ins frame.

The Kilkenny native said after the show: "The one leg just fell apart about 90 minutes before the start. I had left the spare set in New York, and the only ones in Ireland were my riding legs. They were rushed from Kilkenny to Dublin with no time to spare."

Tynan, who completed a six-week tour of Canada and the US last week, enjoyed standing ovations for songs from his recently released self-titled CD, Ronan.

The NCH concert was the second of seven in Ireland this month. A second NCH concert on May 14 is also sold out, as are shows in Cork and Limerick. Tickets are still available for Killarney (INEC) on May 19 and the Royal Theatre, Castlebar, on May 22.