President Michael D. Higgins presented the Seán Ó Riada Gold Medal to piper Colm Broderick from Carlow and harper Fionnuala Donlon from Dundalk, Co. Louth, at a special ceremony in Áras an Uachtaráin on Tuesday. The fiftieth anniversary of the death of musician and composer Seán Ó Riada occurs this month, and the ceremony was held in recognition of his invaluable legacy, and also to acknowledge the very challenging circumstances faced by musicians and those in the arts world since March 2020.
The musicians performed for the President, before being presented with the bespoke gold medals with their names engraved on them.
The Seán Ó Riada Gold Medal competition is an annual traditional music competition run by Peadar Ó Riada on his RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta programme Cuireadh chun Ceoil.
