My mother warned me Irish dancing competitions were ‘f ixed’
RTÉ chatshow host Angela Scanlon has weighed into the Irish dancing fixing scandal saying that even when she competed as a child, there was an ‘intangible feeling that something wasn’t just quite right’.
Meath native Angela has gravitated towards the spotlight since childhood, when she first stepped onto the stage as an Irish dancer.
Reflecting on the scandal engulfing the Irish dancing world, the 38-year-old says that all was not what it seemed, even back then.
‘It’s really mad,’ says Angela when asked about the fixing revelations. ‘I remember when I was competing and my mom was really involved with my dancing, bringing me here, there and everywhere. I was obsessed with dance.
‘I think she might have known, or been aware’
‘My mom was not a pushy parent or a stage mom but I remember her being quite protective, in ways which I found at the time really unhelpful.
‘In my mind, I was like, “this is all I want. It’s what I love. I don’t want to hear anything about it”. Like feed the dream.
‘But she would say stuff like “I would just love it if you were into something like swimming or athletics”. She was like “if you’ve crossed the finish line first, nobody can take that away from you”.’
‘So I think she might have known, or at least have been aware, of the politics in dance. Not that she would have been ever able to prove anything,’ Angela adds.
‘There was a sense that you were either in or you were not. There was always a sense that there was some kind of thing underlying.’
She also believes that apart from blatant fixing, ‘arbitrary’ human nature played its part in skewing results.
‘I guess that’s human nature... When things are left to arbitrary adjudication. You’re kind of, you know, you’re judging your best friend’s daughter.’
Angela is speaking after an internal investigation into the activities
of Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG) unearthed allegations of so-called ‘feis fixing’, shocking participants and their parents.
Despite her childhood pursuit being dragged into global disrepute, she is adamant that recent events can only be positive as they prove to dancers that they weren’t ‘losers’ after all. ‘It’s amazing that it’s come to light because there are parents, my parents, and countless parents down through the years who spent money and time and energy on taking kids to practice and competitions and forking out hundreds, maybe thousands on costumes.
‘And then you go up on stage and you give it your all and to think that you’re not being judged on a level playing field and that somebody has made the decision about who’s going to win before you even put your dancing shoes on the morning of a competition.
She believes even those who won by nefarious means were cheated. ‘It could have been for some that they may have won on their own merit. But they’ll never know. It’s robbing people on all levels.’
Despite the fixing, Angela says her time as a dancer brought her much success but, more importantly, an inordinate sense of joy and self-confidence.
She has of late been packing some sparkle into Saturday nights with the return of her chatshow, Ask Me Anything. It’s two weeks since the second season of the upbeat entertainment show launched on RTÉ.
‘I am loving it,’ she says.
Angela Scanlon’s Ask Me Anything airs on RTÉ One, Saturday nights after the news. niamh.walsh@mailonsunday.ie
‘Countless parents forked out thousands’