Dearbhla Lennon and Gavin O’Fearraigh Selected to Represent Ireland in Eurovision Dance Contest

RTÉ and the Irish Dance Sport Federation selected four couples to potentially represent Ireland and they were:

• Dancer  Dearbhla Lennon and actor Gavin O’Fearraigh
• Dancer Susan Ginnety and actor Killian O’Sullivan
• Dancer Danilo Forte and model Lisa Murphy
• Dancer Kelly Smith and musician Richard Rock

Each couple performed a different dance routine ranging from from the Cha Cha to Latin Ballroom.

This year’s Eurovision Dance Contest, to be held in Glasgow on 6 September, will once again feature 16 countries, including; Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

Last year’s top three countries - Finland in first place, followed by Ukraine in second and Ireland in third - will seek to retain their positions when their dancing couples perform one freestyle number, as opposed to two in the last contest.

Dearbhla graduated with a first class honors degree in Journalism and Media Communications in 2004. She was also awarded "Student of the Year" at Griffith College Dublin.  Later that year Dearbhla worked with Riverdance director John McColgan in his highly acclaimed production of the play 'The Shaughraun' for the Abbey Theatre Dublin During her time at college, she worked as both a fashion model and dancing teacher, having obtained her TCRG exam in 2001. She continues to teach alongside her mother; their school being one of the world's most successful- last year alone, they took home 17 Gold World Medals.

Some of the highlights of Dearbhla's dancing career include performing on The Academy Awards, performing for Prince Charles at The Royal Gala in The Royal Albert Hall, The opening of the 2003 Special Olympic Games (in front of an 80,000 strong audience),The BBC Proms in the Park (where she performed as a soloist) and of course winning 2007s Celebrity Jigs N' Reels with her partner Gavin O'Fearraigh.

After a brief period as a print journalist, having had a number of magazine cover stories, Dearbhla began working in television in 2005, both in front of and behind the camera.