Nathan Carter's '˜priceless' gesture to Clonmany NS pupils

Kealan Doherty, Adrian Doherty and Matthew Friel are huge fans of the ‘Wagon Wheel’ singer and last week, starred in a video, in which they invited him to visit the school and raise their fourth Green Flag.

Starting with the line ‘Clonmany street is hard to beat, ‘ which is taken from one of Nathan Carter’s songs, the video was widely shared locally and beyond.

It was watched over 14,000 times, ‘shared’ via the ‘Friends of Clonmany NS Facebook Page’ over 200 times and ‘liked’ by over 400 people.

It caught the attention of Nathan Carter’s manager John Farry, who got in contact with the school and the boys’ teacher Martin Toland.

Describing the video, which he passed on to Nathan Carter himself, as “great,” Mr Farry said that sadly, the star would not be able to visit the school.

However, he told how Nathan had asked him to extend a personal invitation and eight tickets to the three boys to attend his concert as VIP guests.

The concert takes place in the Millennium Theatre in Derry on April 28th and the boys and their guests are also invited to go backstage to meet Nathan Carter on the night.

Nathan Carter has strong connections to Clonmany and has spoken of his fondness for his. He namechecks it in his song ‘If I Get An Encore’ and has filmed a video in the area. He is also one of the main attractions at the annual Clonmany Festival.

While the news that his schedule was to busy to allow him to visit the school led to some disappointment, it also created great excitement within the school.

Mr Toland, a resource teacher at the school, said the boys are now very much looking forward to the concert at the end of the month.

Mr Toland said that although they are “disappointed” that Nathan isn’t able to make it to the school, they are “so excited and happy” to be invited as VIP guests.

He said: “ The expressions on the boys faces when they were told was priceless. The boys are such huge Nathan fans and getting to meet him in person will really be a dream come true for them.”

He added: “I am so proud of the boys for how well they did in the video. We would like to thank everybody who watched the video and liked and shared it and helped bring it to Nathan’s attention. It is amazing how many people watched the video in such a short space of time. We would also like to thank Nathan and his manager John Farry for making such a special event happen.”

In the meantime, the school is still looking for a celebrity to help them raise their prestigious Green Flag before the end of the year. The Green Flag promotes long-term, whole school action for the environment.

If you know anyone who might be able to help, you are asked to please email [email protected]

Also, see what happened next in a brand new video which is set to be uploaded to the ‘Friends of Clonmany NS’ facebook page today, Tuesday, at 12pm.