Phil Coulter: 'People misinterpret Ronnie Drew. They think he was a bit of a bowsie'

As the Dubliners-themed stage show returns, Phil Coulter tells Richard Fitzpatrick about his warm memories of his dealings with the band 

Phil Coulter at the Luke Kelly statue on South King Street, Dublin. Picture: Jason Clarke

Phil Coulter first crossed paths with The Dubliners in 1969. He was commissioned to write a song, The Molly Maguires, for a movie of the same name, starring Richard Harris and Sean Connery. He only had one band in mind to sing the song – The Dubliners. Their manager, Noel Pearson, organised for them to meet up in a London studio to record the song.

“In the event the song never got into the movie, but more importantly, it introduced me to The Dubliners,” says Coulter. “There was a grudging but slowly growing rapport. They weren't at all impressed by the fact I'd won the Eurovision Song Contest and sold millions of records. That was of no interest to The Dubliners. I had to earn my spurs with them.”