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December 28, 2014 The Sunday Business Post By Philip Connolly A ter 20 years, countless sold-out shows and a va- riety o under-the-radar nancial investments, Moya Doherty and John McCo- lgan are worth a ortune. A conservative estimate puts the couple’s worth at roughly €50 million. And it all started at the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, where two RÉ employees, tasked with coming up with something to divert the attention o the masses during the interval, unveiled River - dance, stole the show and created a global phe- nomenon. While Doherty and McColgan have long ago expanded their empire through a variety o investments and new shows – the latest o which is about to tour in Canada – Riverdance remains a golden goose that shows no sign o tiring itsel out. Over the next 12 months, Riverdance will begin its 20th anniversary tour in Ireland, ahead o runs in 17 countries across Europe, beore moving on to an autumn stint in China. In a testament to the show’s longevity, more than a million tickets or the show will go on sale this year. Te numbers behind Riverdance are stag - gering. Since its rst show in early 1995, it has played in 465 cities in 46 countries across six continents. Tat comes to over 11,000 shows, with gross revenues o more than €1.2 billion. On the back o that, Doherty and McColgan have amassed a ortune and emerged as the main threat to U2’s crown as Ireland’s most successul entertainment export. However, the leap rom a seven-minute in- terval show to a ull touring stage production did not always seem quite so simple. Ater a brie holiday ollowing the 1994 Eurovision, Doherty returned to Ireland and was ap- proached by RÉ, where she still worked, to look at developing a Riverdance Christmas special. Her ideas, however, were somewhat more ambitious than that. According to one source, a “everish scur- rying around to nd investment’’ ollowed the Eurovision, as the couple sought backers to capitalise on the show’s initial popularity and create a ull-blown stage extravaganza. Initially, the idea was met with scepticism, and not every investor bit. Only around one in ve o those approached to buy into Doherty and McColgan’s Riverdance dream stumped up the cash. Tose that didn’t now look back with regret, as investors banked more than €200 million in the rst ve years o the show’s lie alone. Among them was RÉ. Te state broadcaster, which originally broadcast the show received dividends o IR£16.5 million or its stake o around 10 per cent, a massive prot on the IR£800,000 it originally invested. Not that everyone in RÉ was entirely hap - py with the deal, as some questioned why an organisation which laid out most o the cost o the initial development o Riverdance – and paid or a Eurovision which gave the show its break – was only a minority shareholder in the lucrative venture. Te majority shareholders in the show re - mained Doherty and McColgan. Although Doherty has since dismissed the notion that the couple put up their house as collateral, her statement in a recent interview that i they had, they would “probably have lost our house had it not worked’’, illustrated the scale o the gam- ble that the couple took. Along with composer Bill Whelan, they secured the backing o U2 manager Paul Mc- Guinness, Maurice Cassidy and Ossie Kilken- ny, a trio o showbusiness heavyweights who would prove invaluable or both expertise and contacts. Ater a rst run at what was then the Point Depot in February 1995, the show built to a crescendo as an initial production budget just shy o IR£2 million spawned a global hit, with audiences in Britain, the US and continental Europe becoming enthralled. Principal dancer and choreographer Michael Flatley also initially had a small interest in the show’s revenues – small enough that it later led to Flatley leaving the show and attempting to recreate its success with his own Lord o the Dance production. Te departure o the leading man was not to prove unduly harmul to Riverdance. Te show continues to amass massive re - ceipts, with recent accounts or Abhann Pro- ductions, the couple’s theatre production com- pany, showing that it made a pre-tax prot o €5.9 million in the 12 months to June 30, 2011. Not that everything they touch turns to gold. In 2007, Doherty and McColgan set out to con - quer Broadway with Te Pirate Queen, an am- bitious ollow-up to Riverdance. Te show proved to be a disaster, panned by critics and ignored by audiences. Estimates vary, but the show lost more than $10 million. With a number o troupes continuing to per- orm Riverdance around the globe, however, Moya Doherty and John McColgan Published: January 12, 2014 2 Newsmakers 2014 Overlords of the Dance Ian Kehoe: Our selection o interviews and proles rom 2014 refect the changes and events o the last 12 months D avid McWilliams has always been quick to spot a trend. Writing in his column in this newspaper in September, McWilliams gath- ered a string o unrelated stories to make a broader point about Ireland’s tentative eco- nomic recovery. “I woke up on Friday thinking we must be back to the good times. Morning Ireland was gushing about rising property prices, the ruling party is back to blatant cronyism and there was a mega cocaine bust o the south coast,” McWilliams wrote. “I anything sums up 2006, it’s property porn, cronyism and cocaine! It eels like it again, but this time it’s dierent.” Tere has been a proound change in Ireland over the past year, both politically and economically. Just 12 months ago, as 2013 became 2014, there was a considerable body o opinion that Ireland had made a ter - rible mistake by leaving the bailout without the saety net o a precautionary credit line. Now, Ireland is the darling o the nancial markets, and can tap the bond markets or long-term unding at impressively low rates. Budget 2015 tells its own story. Te original plan rom one year ago was to cut €2 billion; by the summer, this had been talked down to a €1 billion adjustment. In the end, depending on how you crunch the numbers, Budget 2015 will actually pump €1 billion into the economy. Al - ready, the government is promising urther tax cuts. And despite all o the positive economic data and the easing o austerity, the government parties are suering. Protests have become commonplace, with the water charges the uniying cause. In this special souvenir supplement, we tell the story o 2014 through interviews and proles that appeared in the pages o Te Sunday Business Post over the past 12 months. Te supplement begins with a prole o Moya Doherty and John McColgan at the time o the 20th anniversary o Riverdance, and ends with an interview with Ken Mur - phy, the director general o the Law Society. In between, there is everything rom Harry Crosbie to Paddy Cosgrave, and rom Ramona Nicholas to Noirin O’Sullivan. A particular avourite o mine is Fearghal O’Connor’s excellent interview with Howard Miller, the departing chie nancial ofcer o Ryanair. In a revealing interview, Miller explains his relationship with Michael O’Leary and his oten understated role in the Ryanair success. Nadine O’Regan’s interview with the comedian ommy iernan also went beyond the normal, and delved deep into his personality (Nadine also got iernan to break the habit o a lietime and discuss money). We have selected 25; they are drawn rom the disparate worlds o business, politics, entertainment, law, property, arts and academia. I hope you enjoy them. Ian Kehoe Editor The Sunday Business Post
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