Proud of his roots? You bet. Minister James McDaid with the group of musicians and dancers from Glenties, Co Donegal, he took with him to Broadway this week for the premiere of Dancing at Lughnasa. They performed at a party and at a tourist promotion lunch on Tuesday.
Although made in Co Wicklow, Lughnasa is set in Glenties, home of the Mundy/McLoone family, relatives of the author Brian Friel. McDaid says he believes it will do great things for tourism in his home county. He escorted Meryl Streep to Glenties after the Irish premiere six weeks ago and is still working on his promise to research her Donegal roots - her great grandmother was a Strain, a family name distributed throughout the county but strongest in the North.
The Minister has now seen the movie three times and there's more to come, including the London premiere on December 2nd. He says he still enjoys it.