Riverdance composer 'remote' from Celtic Tiger

Riverdance composer Bill Whelan today admitted he felt “remote” from the type of Ireland created by the Celtic Tiger economic boom.

The Limerick-born musician wrote the score for the 1994 Eurovision interval dancing extravaganza which has become a global phenomenon.

He said the sound and spectacle of traditional Irish music and sexy dancers may have tapped into the growing confidence of 1990s’ Ireland triggered by the Celtic Tiger.

“The power of that created a new confidence, whether it has anything to do with the confidence that was growing in Ireland in the mid-1990s – the years of the famous eltic Tiger.

“It is a phrase which I am extremely uncomfortable with as an Irishman. I just don’t know what it means, quite frankly.

“I’m not sure I even like the kind of Ireland that talks about the stock market in the way that we do. The stock market in my day was to do with animals.

“This is a different kind of Ireland. I’m not sure that I totally relate to it. I do feel a little bit remote from it at times,” he told RTE Radio.

Riverdance was first performed to acclaim during the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin and featured celebrity dancer Michael Flatley and Irish Dancing Champion Jean Butler.

The first full-length show opened at the Point Theatre in February 1995.

Several production companies continue to perform Riverdance around the world.

However Mr Whelan added: “I regret some of the showiness and brashness that is associated with Riverdance.”