The success of the Eurovision spot led husband and wife production team John McColgan and Moya Doherty to consider how to develop the piece.
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Composed by Limerick native Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval performance during the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest.
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Later that year, the BBC commissioned a repeat performance of the act for the 1994 Royal Variety Show, when it was introduced on stage by Sir Terry Wogan.
The song was written and arranged by Moley and Eoin Ó Súilleabháin and mixed by Kieran Lynch (U2, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Elvis Costello) and was produced by Bill Whelan (Riverdance, The Waterboys, Van Morrison).
More recently, he was Musical Director for Riverdance at the Gaiety Theatre and in 2006 wrote and directed a modernised dramatisation of the great Irish mythological epic Táin Bó Cuailgne.
Since opening its doors in January 1992 with three sold-out performances of Cats, the Phillips Center has hosted performers as diverse as Tony Bennett, Itzhak Perlman, Riverdance, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Ray Charles, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Alison Krauss, Stomp, Yo-Yo Ma, David Sedaris, Bolshoi Ballet, Wynton Marsalis, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and Capitol Steps.
In the 1999 Irish dance show, "Dancing on Dangerous Ground", Gráinne is played by former Riverdance star, Jean Butler.
It features eight new songs and four interpretations including God only Knows, True Colors, and Lift the Wings from Riverdance.
James Cundall is a producer of live entertainment with over 80 productions to his name - musicals such as Les Misérables, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, Chicago, Singin' in the Rain, Oliver, Cabaret, and We Will Rock You; spectaculars such as Cirque du Soleil's Alegría and Riverdance; plays such as The Blue Room and Talking Heads; and solo performers such as Dame Kiri te Kanawa, Jose Carreras, Andrea Bocelli, Elaine Paige, Clive James and Jamie Oliver, to name just a few.
The episode contains numerous jokes about Ireland and references to Irish culture including the Giant's Causeway, Blarney Castle, James Joyce, Bloomsday, leprechauns, Guinness, Riverdance, U2 and the film Once.
Craig's daughter, Kara Markley, began her musical career at a young age and has studied fiddle with renowned players Eileen Ivers of Riverdance fame, Cape Breton’s Natalie MacMaster, and Scotland’s John McCusker.
Their self-titled album was produced by Bill Whelan (later of Riverdance fame), and they became the first Irish band to secure a recording contract with an American label.
In 2005, a musical about the rural electrification of Ireland, The Wiremen, written by composer Shay Healy, directed by Matt Ryan with musical direction by Julian Kelly, and produced by John McColgan/Moya Doherty of Riverdance fame, ran for six weeks at The Gaiety Theatre, Dublin.
While the film primarily spoofs the Star Wars universe in the format of The Apprentice, there are several other notable targets, including swipes at The Princess Bride, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Dracula, The Lord of the Rings, and in the film's standout sequence, Darth Vader takes to the stage, dancing Riverdance-style with a squad of stormtroopers.
The band was originally managed and produced by Riverdance composer, Bill Whelan.