Frontline choir

71 healthcare workers became singing superstars before our eyes as RTE documentary charted the progress of conductor David Brophy's newest choir, made up entirely of frontline staff. The heartwarming series gave the nation an insight into the realities of life on the frontline during the pandemic.

David Brophy

In March 2021, after possibly the toughest 12 months in living memory, RTE conductor David Brophy began recruiting for a new choir, made up of entirely of healthcare workers. The progress of the choir was charted in a heartwarming three-part RTÉ series, from the initial rehearsals on Zoom during lockdown to a special one-off concert in Dublin Castle where they were joined by Aslan, Paul Brady and Sibéal Ní Chasaide.

Based across the country, some 71 people are members of this choir. They hail from a wide range of medical professions and disciplines – there are neurophysiologists, staff nurses, clinical scientists, consultant paediatricians, hospital porters, finance managers, receptionists, therapists and directors of nursing in the choir – over 50 professions in all.

Over 40 healthcare institutions are represented. Staff from St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, the Mater Hospital; Children’s Health Ireland at Temple Street; Tallaght University Hospital; St Luke’s Hospital Kilkenny; Midlands University Hospital Mullingar; University Hospital Kerry, Caherciveen Community Hospital, and many more are involved, including nursing homes, care and community services and Mental Health Services.

With the help of Assistant Choir Director Róisín Savage, the group also created a hugely emotive and powerful music video. The music video sees the choir sing an arrangement of the U2 song ‘Sometimes You Can’t Make it on Your Own’ and was fittingly filmed on the campus of St Vincent’s University Hospital, projected onto the external wall of a building that served as a COVID-19 ward.

It was a particularly poignant moment for Nice Marie Tarugo, a healthcare assistance at the hospital.

She lost her mum Mariter, a fellow healthcare assistant there, to COVID-19 on Christmas Eve. She had contracted the virus a week earlier. Nice Marie said the choir helped her to get through the horrible time she had following her mum’s passing.

“It was awful, it really was. Those months were tough. I had to think about my dad and family, but the choir acted as an escape for me. It was inspiring because you heard the stories of others and how they learned to be resilient. It helped me,” she said.

“We didn’t know what to expect from that first Zoom meeting to our outdoor rehearsals. We couldn’t imagine how it would all come together in the end, but it did, and it was so entertaining.”

Within the choir, a number of members have lost family members to COVID-19. Nice Marie was one of two members who lost family members who were fellow healthcare workers and so the choir and David decided to dedicate this music video to the choirs’ colleagues and fellow healthcare workers in Ireland who lost their lives fighting against the virus.

He said the series showcases the choir’s power in creating community and connection and the joy of singing.

“I wanted people to recognise the ordinary extraordinary people that are our healthcare workers. It was the nurses, the doctors, the porters and assistants who had to step up and make the hard decisions and choices in the worst of times. They need to be celebrated because they are the real heroes,” said David Brophy.

“What we have done here is utterly

ICU nurse Vanessa MacNamara

unique. This group has bonded from the very beginning. The comraderie they share and the friendships they have made are fantastic. I have huge admiration for this incredibly talented, great bunch of people.”

Vanessa MacNamara is an intensive care nurse at the Mater Hospital in Dublin. She said the choir has given her joy during a very difficult time.

“The first two waves of COVID were

David Brophy conducts the Frontline Choir in an emotional finale concert at Dublin Castle The video of ‘Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own’ by David Brophy’s Frontline Choir LEFT: TUH members of the choir: Fiona Liu, Clare Dowling, Sheeja Mathew, David Brophy, Ali Baker Kerrigan, Seamus Connolly, Aoileann Ni Chonchubhair and Fiona Ashe. Colleagues missing from the image are Donnell Rivera and Amritha Roy. BELOW: The Frontline Choir before festive practice at St Patrick's Cathedral. Photo: Paul Connor

manageable, but the third was truly horrific. We have families outside of work. I have a husband and two small children at home, so it was terrifying at times. But those were the risks, and we went in every day because it was our job,” she said.

“The choir was a distraction. It was a gift to me. I got the hour all to myself to be present and perform. I didn’t worry about work or what tomorrow would bring; I just sang. We could fully express ourselves. From the moment we first met online, we immediately knew it was going to be fun. I think we forgot what it was like to enjoy ourselves,” she said.

The call for frontline choir singers was initially put out on the Ryan Tubridy Show. One of the healthcare workers who answered the call was Mary Walshe.

Mary retired as Chief Officer, CHO Dublin North City and County, after 36 years of service in March 2019. She returned to help with the COVID-19 efforts, helping to set up the HSE self-isolation and step-down facility at Citywest Hotel.

She said the choir has brought a lot of fun and support to her life. She made the decision to take early retirement following the death of her beloved husband Greg of cancer in 2016. She says she still misses him every day.

“Greg was only 49 when he died. He was a big 6’4” Mayo man who played football with Mayo for 10 years. It really stops you in your tracks. I’m fortunate to have great family but I miss him every day,” said Mary.

“Singing for me is about the fun. It is about being able to empathise with each other. I find singing very emotional. You can make it on your own, that’s important, but there are times that you need people and you need to open up and say you need support or help.”

John Doyle, the famous Temple Street Hospital porter who appeared on last year’s Late Late Toy Show with Adam King, is also a member of the choir.

On singing with Aslan at Dublin Castle, he said, “If you had said to me eighteen months ago when Covid started that I would be in Dublin Castle with the most amazing group of people you would ever meet in your lifetime, I would have laughed at you. I’ve never sung with anyone before. I’ve never even sang in the bathroom before.”

See the choir perform their version of U2’s ‘Sometimes You Can’t Make it On Your Own’ https://bit.ly/3oH45fp