Liam Harrison performs ‘Give It A Lash Jack’ the song for the Republic of Ireland soccer team and supporters heading to the World Cup Finals in Italy.
’The Gay Byrne Radio Show’ ran a competition to find an anthem for the Republic of Ireland soccer team and supporters going to Italy for the 1990 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup Finals.
The prize for the winning entry is £1000, donated by Arnold O’Byrne, Managing Director of Opal Ireland, sponsors of the Republic of Ireland team. The winning song also receives radio play and a launch on ‘The Late Late Show’.
Of the 354 competition entries, Dubliner Liam Harrison’s song ‘Give it a Lash Jack’ is declared the winner. The song makes it television debut with Liam Harrison backed by ‘The Late Late Show’ resident pianist and musical director Frank McNamara and a collection of sports people and celebrities.
The studio audience is required to join, in but Gay Byrne stops the song in mid flow to demand they rise to their feet to give greater participation.
This time I want to hear an audience joining in who are alive and breathing and wanting to be here.
When the song ends Gay Byrne asks,
Is that a winner or is it not folks, yes it is.
All proceeds from the sale of ‘Give It a Lash Jack’ by Liam Harrison and the GOAL Celebrities will go to the famine relief agency GOAL.
By mid May 1990 ‘Give It a Lash Jack’ made it to top of the Irish charts, displacing Mick Lally’s ’Byroads To Glenroe’.
On 18 March 2011, during a ‘The Late Late Show’ interview, film director Jim Sheridan recalls a conversation he had with Bono and some famous people in which they debated what is the greatest Irish song ever written. They concluded it was ‘Give it a Lash Jack’.
This episode of ‘The Late Late Show’ was broadcast on 20 April 1990. The presenter is Gay Byrne.