RTÉ’s Centenary Concert, which aired in an 85-minute special on RTÉ One on Easter Monday, cost a whopping €2.5 million, it has been revealed.
According to the Herald, the one-off television event, which marked 100 years since the 1916 Rebellion, cost taxpayers a total of €2.46 million.
The event, which was produced by RTÉ and funded by Ireland 2016 and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, was broadcast live from the Bord Gais Energy Theatre on March 28 – and the production told the story of modern Ireland through music, dance and song.
The event featured plenty of Irish stars including Imelda May, Gavin James and Danny O’Reilly, which impressed audiences worldwide as the production was described as “the new Riverdance”.
Almost 700 people were involved in the concert, including the cast and production crew. There was a total of 450 on-screen performers including 21 choirs, 24 dancers, six aerial dancers and nine actors, as well as the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
Commenting on the €2.5m expenditure, an RTÉ spokesperson said that it was a “television event of unprecedented importance.”
“Innovative and state-of-the-art, the programme was the finale to the Easter Weekend commemorations and close to half a million viewers watched on RTE One,” they said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht also said, “Centenary was one of the major flagship events of the Ireland 2016 calendar and in particular, of Easter Weekend 2016.”
“Major television events of this scale require significant investment,” they added.
