Frankie Gavin of De Dannan: 'Reach out and bridge the gap - life is too short'

As the trad group get ready to headline Cork Folk Festival, Frankie Gavin opens up on how the event played such a huge part in ending the long-running feud with his bandmate, the late Alec Finn 

Frankie Gavin, front, with the other members of the current lineup of De Dannan.

It’s 45 years since De Dannan headlined the inaugural Cork Folk Festival, but the last appearance there by Frankie Gavin and his erstwhile bandmates caused just as much of a stir as their first.

One of the most public Irish traditional music fall-outs ever to be aired on Joe Duffy’s Liveline, the rift between Gavin and Alec Finn, founder members of the group formerly known as Dé Danann, was finally healed at a “really emotional” reunion concert at the 2017 folk festival.