Daredevil Derry Rollerskater goes viral

Joe Hill meets Mayor Grahame Warke for a Guinness

Joe, who is a professional skateboarder, was videoed skating down Waterloo Street while dressed in a Disco costume and sipping on a pint of Guinness. He makes it almost all the way to the bottom before slipping out of view at Paolos Pizza.

The video was shared on Instagram Facebook and Twitter by Derry musician Ryan Vail who said, “I really should be posting some of the amazing installations and performances from Derry Halloween this year. Honestly this makes me laugh so much.

”Worth noting he’s a professional skateboarder, will most likely be representing Ireland in the next Olympics. He didn’t fall at the end.”

The video of Joe in his Halloween costume has gone viral

Joe is the owner of the indoor skate park on Trench Road and he is overwhelmed by the support he received from the unplanned video. “We had a Halloween roller derby in the skate park so I decided to get a Halloween costume that would match the boots. We were in the bar and I said to my friend to go out and start filming and I just came out and went for it. There was nothing planned, it just happened. I saw the cars at the bottom so I swerved into rockets and hit the wooden wall. The wall bounced me back up so I still had half a pint and my trousers didn’t even get wet!

“I’m a skateboarder anyway so I’m always trying to make videos and get views and this one went viral when it wasn’t even planned. My friends made me walk up Waterloo Street in my skates while I was giving out the whole time so I told them I would go down it so fast and I did.”

Joe called in to meet the Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District, Graham Warke, who was delighted to meet the local celebrity, “It was great to invite Joe into the Mayor’s Parlour and chat to him about his viral video that is making its way around the world. He confirmed that he managed to keep his pint intact despite the testing conditions!

“I’d also just remind everyone that Joe is a professional skater, and this is definitely not something to try and emulate. Don’t try this at home!”

So, what’s the next big hill for Joe? “There’s not enough Guinness in the world to make me to Shipqyay Street! But we’ll see - there’s always Halloween 2022 to bring ‘Disco Joe’ out of retirement!” he said.