Craic On

Matt Whoriskey won the Songwriters Contest with Jack Craig 2nd and Deadpool 3rd on the scorecard of the 4 judges. However, the most important judge was Tony Bramwell. Tony’s marking is quite strict. He would give the Beatles 10 with the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan on 9.

So, Paul Herron did pretty well to be the only person to get an 8 in the final. Here are Tony’s top marks:-

8 – Donegal Dream – Paul Herron
7 – A Warm Hand – Sean O’Neill (he gave it the top mark of 9 in the semi)
7 – Sirens – Matt Whoriskey
7 – Such a Hold On Me – Matt Whoriskey
6 – Dancing in the Shop – Jessica Harkin
6 – I’ll Remember You – Shirley Clark
6 – Fields of Horses – Gareth McLaughlin
6 – New York – Matt Whoriskey
6 – Fool, Fool – Matt Whoriskey

In the semis Tony gave Sean O’Neill’s Too Many Funerals a mark of 8 – and that one didn’t go through. He also gave Kevin Brown’s The Truth a mark of 8 too but Kevin wasn’t able to make the final. He gave Paul Herron’s Donegal Dream an 8 in the semi.

Of the acts, Tony appears to like Sean O’Neill, Matt Whoriskey and Paul Herron with young Jessica Harkin and Gareth McLaughlin in the mix too. He also liked John Deery and the Heads who came to Moville to play especially for him on the Thursday night. He took away a few CDs of John’s to distribute to contacts in the UK.