Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell

He’s the Irish-speaking Conamara DJ who is no stranger to the international stage, but long before that Cóilí Collins had already long championed Irish nationalism as an expression of diversity, inclusion and     progressive thinking.

And when it came for a frontman to help shine a light on some of the most niche and unique subcultures in Ireland, it was a no brainer to look to the G-Town Records label head better known by his DJ moniker of Shampain.

Last Friday saw the unveiling of the end product – Éire Eile, a new, alternative eight-art documentary series from TG4 presented by Cóilí Collins, featuring such diverse communities as queer punk, dance music, wheelchair basketball, trad, hip-hop, martial arts, drag and the League of Ireland.

Produced by the Black Gate, the series is another product of a Galway arts scene that has built up a vibrant and dynamic catalogue of work in the last few years.

“That was kind of collaborative,” Cóilí says of deciding on topics for each episode.

“Firstly, it was Jake [Tiernan] and I think David Boland from the Black Gate – the series was Jake’s idea. We judged it off how unique or underground the thing was, and then how many Irish speakers we could find from each community.

“We also looked at whether there was an event going on within those things that we could focus on. We had to get a lot of the shoots done in one day because of the budget – we couldn’t pay for heaps of accommodation. So we chopped and changed a lot.

“From the off, it was wheelchair basketball and queer punk – they were definitely two and then we brainstormed the rest. The drag one was very much my idea and that was the last roster spot to fill.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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