A group of Irish dancers who went viral on social media platform Tik Tok, are going from strength to strength with plans under way for a world tour in 2022.
Cairde put on a special performance for primary school children in Galway to promote Active School Week.
Cairde are a group of friends and college students from Clare, Cork and Galway, who have been competing in Irish dance competitions since they were young boys.
Their elite dancing skills have now attracted huge international media attention since they started uploading videos to Tik Tok during the pandemic, becoming viral sensations with over 80 million views and an army of new followers.
The group has appeared on RTÉ's Late Late Show, ITV's This Morning and Good Morning America with a live performance at the Cliffs of Moher beamed into Times Square, New York, on St Patrick's Day.
This week Cairde took centre stage at Radharc na Mara National School in Mervue, where the mother of one of the dancers is a teacher. Breda Fallon says she is so proud of her son Francis and all of the dancers.
"I just wanted to bring a little bit of the joy that they're spreading everywhere into our school. Thankfully they said yes. The boys have been competing in feiseanna at a very high level until around two years ago. That means travelling and competing every weekend and four nights a week training", she said.
"I was dancing around the kitchen when they performed live for international media on St Patrick's Day. There are no words. The lads are great friends - hence the name Cairde - and you can see the chemistry in their dancing and the joy they exude when they’re together."
Francis Fallon said he loves encouraging children to dance.
"It’s really great to watch the kids at Radharc na Mara doing their 1,2,3 steps and inspire a new generation of Irish dancers. We have millions of followers now on social media platforms and will do whatever we can to promote Irish dancing.
"We want to show the world how great Irish dancing is and we've put our own twist on the genre by pairing the steps with modern music to bring it to a whole new audience."
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Cairde fuse jazz dancing, tap and even hip hop with Irish dancing to take the traditional genre to a whole new level and member Brian Culligan said while the techniques might look casual and carefree, it is down to years of hard work.
"It can take two to three days to choreograph a short video. The more effortless it looks the more technically superior it is. You really feel it in the legs!"
Another member of the group, Stephen McGuiness said: It's practice, practice, practice. Years of three to four hours training in halls almost daily has paid off."
Shows like Riverdance brought Irish dancing onto a world stage. Now Cairde have taken it a step further with their fancy footwork attracting new and younger audiences on the most popular social media platforms.
Brian said it it is a dream for any dancer but particularly for males.
"We would have faced a lot of teasing throughout the years for doing what we do, so it’s great to get to this level of achievement and to inspire young children. It’s great to see all these little lads dancing and prancing on our boards here in the school yard. It's nice for us to see, really rewarding."
Group member Ethan Quinton said the camaraderie between the lads is very special.
"Some of us are friends since five years of age. We've competed against each other in competitions for years but we're best friends again when we step off the stage. For now though, going forward I think we genuinely could make a full time career out of Irish dancing."
Plans are under way for a world tour in 2022 but with other "secret projects" in the pipeline, these college students may have to put future career plans on hold as their global popularity continues to rise.
