NAAS: 2 April 2001: by Trish Whelan. A member of Naas No Name Club has won her way through to the final of the national No Name Club Hostess of the Year competition.
Bridget Harney (pictured here with 4th Year coordinator Kathleen Elliott and Naas NNC PRO Kevin Gralton), a 4th year student in St Mary’s College, will carry the hopes of her local club when she competes in the final in The Dolman Hotel, Carlow on April 28.
She has already beaten other contenders in her own club to secure a place in the regional finals, and competed against hostesses from NN Clubs in Lucan, Leixlip and in Finglas. The competition involves a three-minute speech and a party piece, both of which pose no problems for Bridget.
For the regionals, she gave a humourous talk on the difficulties of writing a speech and performed on the violin as music is one of her main hobbies.
As a musician Bridget has achieved success at both national and international level, being a member of three orchestras. She has been selected to represent Ireland with the County Kildare Orchestra in Prague at an international music festival in May 2001. She has also played a concert with this orchestra in the National Concert Hall with Seiko Tsumoto, the famous Japanese pianist.
She is also a member of her school orchestra and of the Dunlavin Youth Orchestra with which she took part in a live satellite link-up of Irish and American music festivals to celebrate St Patrick’s Day.
With the Hollywood Laura Grieves Band, Ceol Chaomhín, she played with, and supported, a variety of international acts, including The Chieftains!
Not content with all those 'strings to her bow', Bridget has formed a small traditional band with two other young musicians, called Keltic Reign and they are currently working on producing their own original material.