NOSTALGIA reigned supreme at The Chieftains first public performance in Ireland in nine years, when they played a packed National Concert Hall on Wednesday night. Garech Browne, Guinness heir and the man whose patronage helped the group produce their first album in 1964, was joined by Manna Guinness and the Spanish and Mexican ambassadors at the concert. Meanwhile on stage, legendary member of the original Chieftains, Sean Potts, joined Paddy Moloney and the crew for an emotive reunion. Also on stage was Spanish piper Carlos Nunez, who took up the pipes after hearing The Chieftains when he was eight years old. When he was 16 he met Paddy Moloney, who became his unofficial manager and last year Nunez secured a record deal with BMG.
The band are up for a Grammy for their current album Santiago, which, should they win it, would make it a record breaking five Grammys in a row. Moloney was in jubilant form, and thrilled with how the concert had gone, saying "it was a wonderful event, we just don't play Dublin often enough," before heading on to Ailesbury Road for an informal session in the Spanish ambassador's residence.