Article reproduced from the Roscommon
Herald Thurs April 17, 2002
Video Documentary to Follow Jivenaires
Reunion
A reunion with a difference will take place in Boyle on
May 31st when 60s showband “The Jivenaires” will reform
for a once-off gig in the Forest Park Hotel. The show will also be
taped as part of a video documentary celebrating the band members
and Boyle which it is hoped will have far-reaching consequences for
tourism in the town.
by
Majella Sullivan
The ambitious plan to make a video of the
town came about in a roundabout way, explained former band member,
Danny Murray. Danny served as a post office clerk in Boyle between
1963 and 1970 before transferring back to Dublin eventually becoming
Sales Manager with Eircom. Described by Jivenaire lead singer, Sean
Kenny as ”one of the biggest players in communications”,
Danny is the owner of the internet companyNCI.
“Originally we started off thinking
about making a video of the dance and we decided to employ a
professional photographer, Eoghan Keating, a freelance cameraman who
has worked on documentaries for RTE,” Danny
explained.
However, the idea to expand the project
from a video of the band’s reunion to a half hour documentary
was first suggested by Keating.
“Though it’s not precisely laid
out, it will centre around the Jivenaires and Boyle with some snap
shots of scenery and local people but nothing is set in stone
yet,” he stressed.
Funded entirely by Danny, he’s hoping
that his company’s “extensive internet interests”
will help with the marketing and promotion of the video. According to
Sean Kenny, Danny’s love of Boyle and happy years spent in the
town prompted him to commission the documentary.
“He returns on a regular basis and
has a great affinity with Boyle and is making this video as a gesture
to that,” Sean told theHerald.
Remembering the glory days of The
Jivenaires, Danny recalls how he got to know the Kenny family through
lodging in their house while he worked in the post office. There he
met Sean, Monte, Pat Hoye, Pat Hever, Liam Conroy and Evelyn
O’Meara and The Jivenaires were born.
“We played about three nights a week
and we would have played without ever getting paid,” says
Danny.
He recalls the pinnacle of their career
when they got an appearance on The Showband Show on Teilifis Eireann.
“We got that through Brendan O’Reilly and it was
organised through us doing a gig for his brother who was a
priest.”
The reunion on May 31st will include all
original band members with Evelyn O’Meara flying over from
Genoa, Italy and Pat Hoye rejoining the group from Boston where he
works as a musician and music teacher. Tickets are now on sale for
EUR 8 (EUR 10 at the door) for an evening of nostalgia from 10.30 to
the early hours of the following day.
