Shamrock Tenors are in fine voice to promote Belfast for Tourism NI

The video follows Lisburn-born actor and Normal People star Desmond Eastwood, as he arrives in Belfast City Airport and makes his return journey home to Belfast, reconnecting with his friends, family and the city.

Viewers will also see some of our top attractions and landmarks, like Titanic Belfast, the Harland & Wolff cranes, Lagan Weir, the Albert Memorial Clock, The Duke of York, Cave Hill and City Hall.

The video is being promoted by Tourism Ireland on social media in GB – on Facebook and YouTube. It will also be shared with Tourism Ireland’s millions of fans and followers on social media around the world.

Lisburn singer from The Shamrock Tenors Raymond Walsh, who also starred in Les Miserable on the West End, explained how the local band came to be involved in the campaign. “The collaboration with Tourism Ireland came about after one of the company executivs, Des Burke, had watched one of our videos on YouTube and contacted me to see if they use some of our performances to help promote Northern Ireland around the world,” said Raymond. “It has always been one of the main goals of the Shamrock Tenors, to promote home in a positive light, so we jumped at the opportunity.

“Jimmy, in the band, had been saying for a while that we should cover Barnbracks classic song ‘Belfast’ and by this stage we had already developed a good relationship with the Tourist Board, having recently represented Northern Ireland with a performance in their St Patrick’s Day at Home concert.

“I had the idea of pitching a video to them that not only showed how beautiful Belfast was, but also how amazing the people are at home. I contacted Alex Quinn, who originally wrote ‘Belfast’ and he was so incredibly supportive of the idea. We were so fortunate to have the support from him to trust us with his song.”

Raymond revealed that the band members grew up with actor Desmond Eastwood and they were really keen that he would also be involved in the project. “We all grew up with Des Eastwood from childhood so when it came to finding someone to play the protagonist in the video then we were incredibly keen to get Des involved,” explained Raymond. “Des had also helped out behind the scenes on our original promo back in 2018 so it felt like full circle working together again. Thankfully he was only delighted to be a part of the project and we had a brilliant time working together.”

Raymond and the rest of the band are delighted with the finished video and proud to be representing Northern Ireland across the globe. “I’m incredibly proud with how the video turned out, especially as it was all made by the lads within the band,” added Raymond. “We all went to Matthew’s house so that he could produce the track and play every instrument that you hear, I directed and produced the video and my brother Jack was the one to edit and put it all together. We brought it an amazing videographer, Sam Kwan, and between us all we managed to make the video entirely in house, which was a major challenge but hugely enjoyable. The biggest challenge was making sure that we found a balance between showing off the city but still not straying away too far from the story that we were telling, about a young lad returning home after years away. I think that we managed to find a good balance and, most importantly, I hope that when people watch it that they feel proud to be from home.”

Siobhan McManamy, Tourism Ireland’s Director of Markets, said: “Tourism Ireland was delighted to work with the Shamrock Tenors and Desmond Eastwood to create this moving and nostalgic music video showcasing Belfast. It will be seen by our fans and followers on social media in GB and elsewhere around the world, reminding them why Belfast and Northern Ireland is such a great choice for a holiday or short break.”