Mike Murphy meets John McColgan producer, director and one of the creators of Riverdance

Mike Murphy meets John McColgan producer, director and creator of Riverdance, Riverdance: The Show, as we all know now, first appeared in The PointDepot and its Eurovision debut went on to be known as one of the mostfamous interval acts in the history of the of the Eurovision song contest. Ireland won the contest again that year (with Charlie McGettigan and Paul Harrington’s Rock and Roll Kids) but the following day’s headlineswere reserved for Riverdance. The Sunday Press hailed it as ‘Seven Minutes That Shook The World.’ The following year John and Moyahis wife , mortgaged their house to turn the Eurovision interval act into a full-blown show. It was a bold move,theenthusiasm of the audience on the night gave them a feeling in their gutthat it would be a success.Along with Bill Whelan Moya and John set about developing the show. Success? That’s one of the biggest understatements in show businesshistory. The show in the Point was the talk of the town for months if notyears afterwards. A video of the music went viral and Bill Whelan’s single went to number one in the charts. It also won him a Grammy Award. A quarter of acentury on, the show still takes people’s breath away as a cavalcade offeet clicking in unison creates a kind of electric charge. It’s like a colossalarmy march.One of the shows John most enjoyed producing at this time was the candid camera one where Mike Murphy caught people out in various ruses by taking on different identities. The most famous was probably when he repeatedly interrupted a broadcast Gay Byrne was doing in TCD when he pretended to be a French tourist. It’s hilarious to watch Gay becoming more and more infuriated before he finally snaps with some very uncharacteristic expletives. When Mike Murphy announced who he was, Gay Byrne proved to be a good sport about it all. John also got to know both of them well. He worked with Gay often over the years .www.seniortimes.ie