On Saturday 25th March The Dome, Semple Stadium, Thurles was the place to be where Scoil Ruáin’s Parent’s Association hosted “Scoil Ruáin Does Strictly” in aid of the school’s ASD Unit ‘Coisceim’. A large crowd were in attendance where past-pupils, parents, staff and members of our local school community danced the night away to a captive audience. Brendan Hennessy of TV3 Ireland AM and Premier Sport was master of ceremonies. His humour and wit added greatly to the occasion.
The judging panel consisted of Michael Lowry, Gillian Fitzgerald and Denise Moloney and they had a difficult task judging the event as all the dancers gave outstanding performances on the night. In the end, Roisin Crowe and Eamon Cahill were crowned the overall winners with their dance from the film Grease. They were each presented with a beautiful piece of glassware while all the participating dancers received an engraved silver plate as a momento of the occasion. “Mister Mister” Men’s Dress Hire of Cashel kindly sponsored the men’s shirts and ties for the night.
A total of €35,000 was raised with more money still coming in. The organising committee would like to acknowledge and sincerely thank all the businesses and individuals who provided sponsorship, donated raffle prizes, purchased tickets to attend, voted for the contestants and anyone who helped in any way. Their support has made a great difference to help the lives of children on the Autism Spectrum in Scoil Ruáin and surrounding areas. They also want to thank Nicola Purcell of Dance Republic Carlow and her team for their wonderful teaching over the past 10 weeks. Their amazing efforts really paid off on Saturday night. Also it would not have happened without the commitment of the dancers themselves who freely gave of their time to be part of this very worthwhile event. A great night’s entertainment was had by all and well done to all concerned.
The following is a list of the dancers and the tracks they danced to:-
- Nicole McGrath and James O’Gorman – Rock Around the Clock
- Cait Murphy and Eddie Brennan – The Greatest
- Jordan Freeman and Killian Skorka – We both reached for the Gun
- Christina Blake and Mark O’Connell – Pencil Full of Lead
- Fiona Lawlor and Liam Fitzgerald – I Want to Dance with Somebody
- Marie Bourke and Paul Slattery – Candyman
- Mary Kate McGabhan and P.J. Hayes – Shape of You
- Margaret O’Neill and Brian Cullivan – Wagon Wheel
- Marion Walzer and Paul Kelly – The Time of My Life
- Irene Hayes and P.J. O’Dwyer – Moves like Jagger
- Nora Fanning and Joe O’Sullivan – 500 miles
- Carol Delaney and Darragh Blake – Thinking out Loud
- Deirdre Bourke and Robbie Campion – Rockin Robin
- Gemma O’Dwyer and Andrew O’Gorman – Mambo Number 5
- Joan Fox and Thomas Shelly – You Can’t Stop The Beat
- Jacqui O’Flynn and James Gleeson – I wanna be like you
- Holly Jean Williamson and Stefan J. Doyle – Writings on the Wall
- Roisin Crowe and Eamon Cahill – Grease
