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Sat, 31 Oct 1998 11:18:00 -0600
Irish stars unite for Omagh aid album
Buncrana boy's poem to feature on track
By Maeve Quigley
LIAM Neeson recites a moving poem written by one of the children
killed in the Omagh bomb outrage.
The Ballymena-born actor is among a host of world- famous Irish acts
who will be appearing on a special star- studded album in aid of the
Omagh Memorial Fund.
Across The Bridge Of Hope will feature music from U2, Van
Morrison, Ash, Sinead O'Connor, Boyzone, The Divine Comedy,
Enya, Paul Brady and Juliet O'Connor, who have all donated their
services free.
The album takes its title from the poem written by 12- year-old Buncrana
boy Sean McLoughlin shortly before he was killed in the Omagh atrocity.
The album has been co- ordinated by Northern Irish music industry
figures Ross Graham and Tim Hegarty.
Mr Ross explained: "After the bombing in Omagh I got a call from
Tim suggesting that something should be done in tribute to the people
of Omagh.
"I've been working in the music industry for about 20 years so I
decided to phone round contacts to see what could be done.""Everybody
was so supportive that we began to have the seeds of the project very
quickly."One of the featured tracks on the album is Sean's poem, which
has
been recorded in New York as a reading by Ballymena actor Liam Neeson.
He was also asked, at Seamus Heaney's request, to record the Nobel
laureate's The Cure At Troy.
Ross added: "We approached Seamus Heaney, who is one of the
finest poets in Ireland, to ask him if he would like to donate material
for the album and he was more than happy to offer us The Cure At
Troy.
"We asked him if he would record a reading for the album, but he
proposed that Liam Neeson do it. Liam readily agreed to take part
and the track was recorded in New York exclusively for the album."U2
have donated the track Please, which was written originallly as a plea
to the people of Northern Ireland to try to find a resolution to the
Troubles.
The Corrs have donated their top selling single What Can I Do?, while
Downpatrick's Ash have added the song I'm Gonna Fall from their latest
album Nu-Clear Sounds.
Van Morrison has donated a version of The Healing Game, which features
Paddy Moloney, Brian Kennedy and Phil Coulter.
Boyzone will feature on the album singing their hit single Words while
Paul Brady has offered a recording of The Island.
The Divine Comedy have taken the track Sunrise the only song that Neil
Hannon has ever written about the Troubles from their latest album,
while
Enya has made a recording of the Christmas carol Silent Night and Juliet
Turner has recorded the track Broken Things.
A song which may well be released as a single is a recording of the ABBA
hit Chiquitita, sung by Sinead O' Connor.
All the artists involved offered their services free and proceeds will
be
donated to the Omagh Memorial Fund, including royalites.
The full content of the album will be finalized on Monday and all the
production work will be done in Northern Ireland.
Across The Bridge of Hope will be released on November 30.
-- Prarit....[email protected] U2 news: http://www.members.home.net/u2-news/u2.html
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