Doctors in Mayo are capitalising on the success of the county team in reaching the All Ireland football final. Proceeds from the sale of a traditional music tape, Up Mayo, will go to the Mayo Cat Scan appeal, which for two years has been seeking to raise £450,000 to install the facility at the Mayo General Hospital.
Dr Luke O'Donnell, traditional music fan and consultant physician at the Mayo General Hospital, came up with the idea a month ago.
The success of the county team provided the perfect marketing opportunity, and Dr O'Donnell, in association with a Newport GP, Dr Brian Lennon, and local folk and traditional musicians, produced the tape and CD in just two weeks.
The theme song was originally written by a Galway musician, Padraig Stevens, founder of the Saw Doctors, and has been adapted by a Castlebar musician, John Hoban, who enthusiastically repeats the "Up Mayo" catch-cry throughout.
Locations from Ballindine to Kilburn and Ohio are referred to in the song, making it likely that the compilation will appeal to people with Mayo connections all over the world.
A number of professional Mayo musicians, including Matt Molloy, Cora and Sean Smyth and Brendan O'Reagan, feature on the four-track cassette and CD, which includes a studio and a live version of the theme song in addition to a flute tune and a number of reels.
Approximately £280,000 has been raised, but an All Ireland win for Mayo would result in a massive injection of funds through the sale of the Up Mayo tape, according to Dr Brendan Murphy, chairman of the Cat Scan campaign.
Copies of the tape are being circulated among GAA supporters in Mayo and will be distributed nationwide by Gael Linn this week. All musicians involved provided their services free.