{"id":305969,"date":"2026-01-27T10:15:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T10:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/305969\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T10:15:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T10:15:11","slug":"i-believe-2026-is-the-year-i-will-become-a-star-meet-the-hopefuls-in-search-for-irelands-next-country-music-singer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/305969\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I believe 2026 is the year I will become a star\u2019 – meet the hopefuls in search for Ireland\u2019s next country music singer"},"content":{"rendered":"

The popular TG4 series, hosted by Aoife N\u00ed Thuairisg, will kick off Tuesday night with 22-year-old Darcy Walsh from Dungloe, Donegal and 19-year-old Jordan McPolin from Hilldown in Co Down vying for a shot at major league stardom.<\/p>\n

\"Gl\u00f3r<\/p>\n

Gl\u00f3r T\u00edre guest judge Eddie Rowley with singer and mentor Claudia Buckley<\/p>\n

And they are both being mentored by Irish country big-gun Jimmy Buckley, who will also perform his hits and favourites on the show.<\/p>\n

Darcy and Jordan will have competition in the coming weeks from Ryan Lynch (Strabane), Dee Morrissey (Bansha, Tipperary), Megan O\u2019Hara (Tubber on the Offaly\/Westmeath border), Marty Breslin (Derry), Maeve Farrell (Annaclone, Down) and Paudie Coffey (Beaufort, Killarney).<\/p>\n

\"Gl\u00f3r<\/p>\n

Gl\u00f3r T\u00edre contestants Paudie Coffey, Maeve Farrell, Darcy Walsh and Jordan McPolin<\/p>\n

\u201cGl\u00f3r T\u00edre gets you into the homes of a lot of people across the entire island of Ireland who are into country music,\u201d Nathan Carter says of the show\u2019s impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cLisa McHugh always says it was a great platform for her when she was starting out. She was mentored on her first show by Robert Mizzell, and then she went back as a mentor herself.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Nathan Carter performed on the programme as a singer and mentor in 2012, it was before he achieved massive fame with his smash hit, Wagon Wheel .<\/p>\n

\"Gl\u00f3r<\/p>\n

Gl\u00f3r T\u00edre contestants Dee Morrissey, Marty Breslin, Megan O\u2019Hara and Ryan Lynch<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a video of me singing an old medley of Irish songs like Spanish Lady and Westmeath Bachelor on my first Gl\u00f3r T\u00edre show, and I\u2019m in the shiniest silver suit you\u2019ve ever seen in your life,\u201d Nathan laughs as he recalls that appearance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still up there on YouTube. It was great to be on Gl\u00f3r T\u00edre at that time. There aren\u2019t many country music TV shows in Ireland, so it has been a huge boost for our genre.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gl\u00f3r T\u00edre producer Maria Griffin tells how she has seen contestants thrive and achieve success after getting their break on the show – even those who didn\u2019t emerge winners.<\/p>\n

\u201cLisa McHugh didn\u2019t win it, but she went on to have great success in her career,\u201d Maria points out.<\/p>\n

\"Glor<\/p>\n

Glor Tire guest judge Eddie Rowley (Sunday World) with singers and mentors Jimmy and Claudia Buckley <\/p>\n

Star-in-the-making Jordan McPolin says he\u2019s wanted to be a country singer like Nathan Carter since first meeting the Wagon Wheel singer when he was six-years-old.<\/p>\n

\u201cI won tickets for a meet-and-greet with Nathan and to see him performing when I was six,\u201d Jordan says. \u201cThat Christmas the top of my Santa list was a guitar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordan is an apprentice electrician but also performs live as a singer and has won competitions for jiving.<\/p>\n

Darcy Walsh says she\u2019s been a long-time fan of Gl\u00f3r T\u00edre. \u201cIt has always been a dream of mine to be on the show and I feel like I\u2019m ready for it this year,\u201d she reveals.<\/p>\n

Ryan Lynch (37) has been working on the country scene as a solo performer in recent years and says he\u2019s now decided to make it a full-time career. He will be mentored by Patrick Feeney.<\/p>\n

\"Glor<\/p>\n

Glor Tire contestants Marty Breslin and Megan O\u2019Hara<\/p>\n

Dee Morrissey, who will also be mentored by Feeney, works by day as a wedding planner and decorator under the name, \u2018The Fairy Godmother.\u2019 She\u2019s hoping Gl\u00f3r T\u00edre will sprinkle some magic and make her dream of being a country star come true.<\/p>\n

Megan O\u2019Hara (28) and Marty Breslin (25) are being mentored by Michael English.<\/p>\n

\"Paudie<\/p>\n

Paudie Coffey performing on Glor Tire with Claudia Buckley<\/p>\n

\u201cGl\u00f3r T\u00edre has been hugely influential in my life growing up, but I never had the confidence to actually go for it myself,\u201d Megan says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year my confidence has grown as I have begun singing in a band called The Band S\u00ed with my mother.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marty Breslin has a long-held ambition to become a country singing and says he\u2019s decided that 2026 is the year to give it a go.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a goal of becoming a country music star, and I believe this year is the year to achieve that goal,\u201d Marty says.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy granny loved Nathan Carter and his music. I saw how this music impacted her and I want to do the same for other people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Gl\u00f3r<\/p>\n

Gl\u00f3r T\u00edre presenter Aoife N\u00ed Thuairisg (centre) with judges Jo N\u00ed Ch\u00e9ide and Caitriona O\u2019Sullivan<\/p>\n

Maeve Farrell and Paudie Coffey will be mentored by Claudia Buckley. \u201cClaudia is the dream mentor as she is currently doing my dream job of touring with her own big band,\u201d Maeve says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spent the last nine years teaching jiving and line dancing, founding CountryFIT \u2014 a dance community created online during lockdown. Country music is my everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paudie Coffey has been performing with his dad since the age of 15 and at the age of 26 he says he\u2019s now ready to take his career to a new level \u201cwith the help of Gl\u00f3r T\u00edre and my mentor Claudia.\u201d<\/p>\n

This will be the 22nd series of Gl\u00f3r T\u00edre and Jimmy Buckley tells how it boosts all careers from newcomers to established artists.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great springboard for any artist to do. Gl\u00f3r Tire can be a great shop window, a great platform,\u201d Jimmy says. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing the amount of exposure it\u2019s given to young artists. It\u2019s also showcasing singers like me, like Claudia, Michael English and Mike Denver. It keeps us fresh in people\u2019s minds. It\u2019s definitely a show to be on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gl\u00f3r T\u00edre is on TG4 this Tuesday at 9.30pm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The popular TG4 series, hosted by Aoife N\u00ed Thuairisg, will kick off Tuesday night with 22-year-old Darcy Walsh…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[265],"tags":[18,117,19,17,23,128],"class_list":{"0":"post-305969","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-latest-news-ticker","13":"tag-tv"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115966543566390109","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}