The glamour, glitz and glory of the Irish Dancing World Championships returns to Dublin

At first glance, it looked like a living-doll factory. The Irish dancers standing on the escalators that snake up the inside of the Convention Centre Dublin seemed almost like figurines on a production line.
The statuesque wigs heaped on top of their heads, the uniform glamour of their stage make-up, the astounding sparkle of their rhinestoned dresses. And, of course, their poker-straight comportment.

Those perfectionist aesthetics of Irish dancing meant the competitors on the escalators looked more like mannequins than mortals. The illusion was broken only once they got to the top and started to move.

The 2025 World Irish Dancing Championships – Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne 2025, to give it its correct title – has this week served a shock of neon vibrancy to the normally dull and corporate setting of the Convention Centre on Dublin’s north quays. This is the 55th world championships – and in Ireland, a postponed celebration of what should have been the 50th anniversary of the competition in Dublin in May 2020.

Read Ellen Coyne's full story here: https://www.independent.ie/irish-news...

Video by Olivia Lynott