DECEMBER 2007

Charity Single released for Christmas

Dinny McLaughlin, well-known Buncrana traditional musician, has brought together a collection of local performers to record a Christmas song to raise money for I.C.A.R.E. (Inishowen Children's Autism Related Education).The single was recorded at the Inishowen Community Radios Station in Carndonagh last week. The song 'Welcome Home for Christmas Day' is on sale locally and priced €5.

"I had the song written for a couple of years and a couple of months ago I though, now's the time to record it. I would know a lot of the people in I.C.A.R.E. and have often wondered how they cope with having an autistic child," said Dinny. Dinny will be selling the copies of the single on Friday 7th December in SuperValu Buncrana.

All the musicians gave their talent and time free of charge for the project and ICR gave the studio time for free. "ICR were great. They don't have all the equipment to record a big group so it wasn't ideal, but when we couldn't get a recording studio they stepped in and did a great job," said Dinny, who added that the song was already getting a lot of air play on ICR.

Most of the musicians Dinny contacted to perform on the track have Inishowen connections. Brenda Barron (harp), Anne Marie Hickey, Caroline Miller and Isabelle Hickey (vocals), Jane Hughes (cello), Denise Roper (piano) and Paul Cutliffe (tin whistle) join Dinny, who plays fiddle on the song. "The whole idea in the song is people travelling back home for Christmas and it's great that some of these musicians travelled back to Inishowen to record the song. Once we got to ICR we ran through the song once and then recorded it, but it turned out great," said Dinny.

Welcome Home for Christmas Day is available now in shops in Buncrana and Carndonagh.

Back