An attempt to win back his girlfriend led to Kilfeacle native Gerard Doherty (above) penning the song which ended up winning him first prize in the Clonmel National Song Contest last weekend, and the prize money will help pay for the couple's engagement ring!

Now based in London, Gerard wrote "Hurt No More" for his girlfriend, Vani McCall, after they broke up and it's worth has now been proven. Not only did it help him win her back, he also decided to enter it in this year's inaugural Clonmel National Song Contest and ended up having great success with it.

As a result of his victory, Gerard - who was accompanied by his brother Mel on the night - won E2,000, of which he has generously donated E500 to the Chernobyl Children's Project, beneficiaries of Saturday night.

It was a suitably romantic conclusion to a great night for the organisers, and for the town, which has probably ensured the future of the Clonmel National Song Contest.

A great crowd was present in the Clonmel Arms Hotel on the night to hear the eight finalists from all over the country and, in the case of Gerard Doherty, Kilfeacle, via London. "It was a wonderful night all round", said contest director Michael Walsh afterwards. "After all the hard work and all the little things going wrong and all the preparation which had to be done, it turned out to be a great success."

Judges on the night were Johnny Lappin, Chairman of the Irish Music Publishers' Association; Jackie Hayden, publisher of Hot Press; and John O'Connor of the Cork School of Music. There was great excitement towards the end of the night as all present eagerly awaited the announcement of the results, with the judges having a hard job to pick a winner from all of the worthy finalists.

In the end they chose Gerard in the top spot, with Derek O'Gorman from Terenure coming second and Paula Gilmer of Stepaside in Dublin in third place. All three top prize-winners took home a beautiful Tipperary Crystal pen as a memento of the occasion. Prizes were presented by the Mayor of Clonmel, Phil Prendergast.

"The songs went down very well on the night and the standard was very high, across the board", adds Michael Walsh.

However, the organisers aren't resting on their laurels and already plans are being hatched for next year's event. In 2004, the contest could well have expanded into a fully-fledged song writing festival weekend.

For the moment, Mr Walsh is grateful to all who helped out with this year's contest and supported it in any way. All proceeds from the night are going to the Chernobyl Children's Project.

Reproduced with permission of Conor Kane (Journalist, Nationalist Newspaper)