Sitting in his taxi in Cobh town centre Darragh McGann the singing taxi driver can be seen belting out the Irish national anthem .
Darragh is spontaneously breaking into song around Cobh in preparation for the big stage —- Croke Park.
McGann 41 is scheduled to sing Amhran Na bhFiann during the GAA Football Semi final of Dublin V Donegal on Sunday 31 August.
The singing cabbie told the East Cork Journal that he had applied before to sing the national anthem at GAA HQ but was unsuccessful.
“it was off the back of my success at Britain’s Got Talent and the encouragement of Cara O’Sullivan that gave me that little push I needed to reapply. To my astonishment I got a phone call out of the blue from Robert Smith the entertainment officer for most of Irelands major sporting events. ”
McGann added ” originally I was scheduled for the Cork Tipp game but a music group from Cork were already playing during the interval. It was decided that I would perform during the Dublin V Donegal Semi Final.”
The Cobh native is taking it all in his stride saying ” it’s all about the 80s. My mother is 80 years old on the 29 August and two days later I sing to a packed crowd in Croke Park of 80,000. This is the biggest performance of my life. I’m savoring the challenge. To sing in front of so many people is a great honour. ”
Darragh McGann does not only perform to 80,000 people on the day, he will also be beamed across the globe by both the RTE and Sky TV networks to hundreds of thousands of viewers. A task he feels ready for. The singer even considered tweeting Garth Brooks “no hard feelings I got your 80,000.”