Keeping it country

DURING the Celtic Tiger, Ireland had a veneer of urban sophistication, but rural Ireland rumbled on as usual. Mainstays of rural life, such as sport and farming, didn’t change, nor did country music, Irish-style.

Every weekend in halls and hotels, thousands of people go to country-music gigs. Country in Ireland is a broad church, encompassing bluegrass, Irish and American country and middle-of-the-road acts like Daniel O’Donnell. But how is country music surviving the downturn and who are the main players?

Mike Commins writes on country music for the Farmer’s Journal and Mayo News and presents a country show on Mid-West Radio. He says that, unlike its American equivalent, Irish country music must be suitable for dancing and it is this that draws the audiences, week after week.