Ireland's most successful dance show is to embark on a 20th anniversary world tour starting in Limerick in January. Riverdance, which has been seen by more than 23 million people in 45 countries, will have a six-night run in the University of Limerick. These will be the only Irish dates in this tour.
Riverdance composer Bill Whelan said the Limerick home-coming was a "life-long dream come true".
Making music
"When I was growing up in Limerick I used to dream about making music my life," he said. "I could never have imagined that one day I would be bringing a show which had spent 20 years touring the world back to my own birthplace."
The university’s sports arena will be adapted for the six performances there and turned into a 2,400-seat venue.
Mr Whelan also spoke of the importance of celebrating Irish talent at home to encourage young artists.
“As Irish people sometimes we don’t celebrate each other so much,” he said. “We are inclined not to give each other a bit of a boost every now and then. Americans and other cultures . . . [celebrate] each other and I think, as Irish people, we don’t do it . . .”
Mr Whelan was joined at the event by Riverdance producer Moya Doherty, who said that Limerick would be an appropriate stage from which to launch the tour on January 16th next.