For many, this is the song that represents the first lockdown when we all took to our gardens and tried to replicate the dance – but it is definitely not like you have ever heard it before.
The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’ has been remastered and sung in Irish and Welsh – and put into a video.
Last March, days before the pandemic struck, Colaiste Lurgan in Galway and their Welsh counterparts, Urdd Gobaith Cymru, launched a partnership with the aim of coproducing Gaeilge/Cymraeg projects involving young people from both organizations.
Covid restrictions meant that their initial workcamp planned for Conamara last summer could not happen.
But to affirm their commitment to this highly exciting project, Urdd and Lurgan remotely produced this collaboration which, they say, clearly demonstrates the comradery, affinity and commonality of both organizations.
Two Laois men were heavily involved in the production, Raheen’s Niall Brennan and Timahoe’s Aedraen Ó Dubhghaill.
Aedraen, who now lives in Indreabhán in Galway and is the Development Officer in Colaiste Lurgan, explained how it all came about.
He said: “Urdd Gobaith Cymru are the largest youth organisation in Wales that promote the Welsh language – on par with the GAA really for their influence on Welsh culture.
“As part of my role here with Lurgan, I co-ordinated between ourselves and the Urdd to bring the project together in terms of the videos and participants on our side.
“With the Covid-19 pandemic, we didn’t have courses for the first time since 1967 so we had a very quiet year and we lost, to a point, the link that we have with our returning students.
“So this project gave us a chance to bring that link back together and to give everyone a break from the hardships of Covid.
“Luckily we have a great relationship with our past students and they were more than willing to help out.
“It was filmed and recorded just using phones at home and our sound tech Ian O’Connor put the track together from those recording in both Gaeilge and Cymraeg.
“The video was edited by Gryff Lynch from the Urdd in Wales and contains clips from both Irish and Welsh young people.”
SEE ALSO – Tributes paid following sad passing of young Laois man who was a member of the Defence Forces
