Airport singers hope charity CD will fly
Mick Healy, former chief of police, fire and rescue at the airport and founder of Cork Airport Singers, said Cork Penny Dinners would be a beneficiary of the CD’s sales.
Along with his daughter Ann Healy Mayes, who conducts the choir, he said they took some time to consider which local charity should benefit.
In 2006, the choir’s CD, How Time Flies, yielded €20,000 for Edel House.
“This year, we asked which is the oldest charity in Cork. We decided on Cork Penny Dinners because they’re around since Famine times,” he said.
The singers’ group was formed in 1986, the year Cork Airport celebrated its 25th anniversary. “I said, at the time, to the airport general manager wouldn’t it be lovely if employees could sing at the Mass. He asked would I look into that and I went around looking for people to join a choir. I got 37 from different departments. Over the years, I’d known there were a lot of singers around — on party nights you’d get guys and girls singing,” recalls Mr Healy.
After the airport’s milestone anniversary, the singers continued to meet and in 1989 produced their first recording, A Flight Around Munster.
Five years after its formation, the choir was opened up to non-airport staff.
Today, membership stands at 52 and singers range from a retired Church of Ireland bishop to nurses and housewives.
The new CD, We Wish You Christmas, includes carols they have performed at concerts and venues at Christmas time over the past 20 years. It was recorded last May in Cloyne Cathedral with the full choir and six accompanying musicians.
- Costing €10, the CD is available by phoning 087 2255775.
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