"JUST be kinder to yourself and enjoy it more.” This is the advice that, 50 years on, Dana would give to her 18-year-old self.
Perched on a stool while wearing an embroidered white mini-dress, the then Rosemary Brown was the last of 12 contestants to perform in Amsterdam’s RAI theatre back in 1970. No-one was more shocked than herself when her rendition of All Kinds of Everything became Ireland’s first Eurovision winner.
Life for the schoolgirl, often referred to as ‘the girl from the Bogside’, changed forever and at a time when the conflict of the Troubles was dominating the news, Dana won the heart of a nation – north and south.
“I had actually stopped going to Dublin to sing in folk clubs at the weekends and had retired any idea of a career in show business six months earlier. Then RTÉ producer Tom McGrath phoned me and told me he had a little song that he thought would suit me for the Irish National Song Contest. It was a very sweet song, but I never imagined it winning Eurovision,” reflects Dana, speaking to me from her daughters Grace’s home in Canberra, Australia, where she and her husband Damien have been quarantined.
“We left Ireland on February 23 and visited our son John James in Sydney, before coming to Canberra. We really don’t know when we will get back to Ireland."
With media appearances in Australia and a planned tour of northern Europe to promote her new album cancelled due to Covid-19, how is she coping?
“I try to take things as they come. We could be in a lot worse position. I'm just keeping busy in the house, catching up on a bit of reading and enjoying the grandchildren," Dana tells me over the phone.
“There is social distancing here as well and only essential businesses open. We go to the supermarket once a week and can’t drive between states.”
Dana is delighted that filming for her new documentary by Waddell Media, – being broadcast on both BBC and RTÉ next week – which included a special performance in Derry’s Guildhall with local choirs and a visit to her old school, Thornhill College, was completed before the world came to a halt with coronavirus.
Dana – The Original Derry Girl retraces her steps in Amsterdam and candidly talks to her about the highs and lows of the past 50 years.
“I thought the theatre would have been knocked down or changed beyond recognition, but they had actually built a complex around it. And inside one of the buildings was this time capsule that was completely unchanged. It took my breath away,” she says of returning to the setting of her Eurovision win in the Dutch capital.
Dana also reveals how the whirlwind success left her feeling lonely and how she tried to run away from it all one night, before the local milkman brought her safely home.
“Piano was my instrument, not my voice, and after Eurovision I wanted to do my A-level practical, but it was just impossible,” she recalls.
Dana’s piano claims to fame include numerous Feis wins, being a pianist for the Mormon choir in Derry and accompanist for Derry singer Majella Brady.
She regrets not having recorded any music of her singing and playing piano, but does admit she contemplated becoming a music teacher when she lost her voice and required surgery to remove a non-malignant growth from her vocal chord.
Although “a scary time”, on reflection Dana acknowledges the medical scare was actually a “blessing”.
“Like now with the coronavirus, when life stands still it makes you stop and look at your life and evaluate where you are going. I loved my career so much I don't think I would have married Damien if I hadn’t happened.”
Dana – The Original Derry Girl features archive footage of their marriage being celebrated on the streets of her divided hometown.
“We didn’t realise it was the 10th anniversary of civil rights, so there were international crews in Derry as well, waiting for something terrible to happen, and what they experienced was a party for the whole city.”
And how did she feel watching her life story in just 60 minutes?
“It was very emotional, but great to have archive footage and the interview with my mother from my 25th anniversary reflection,” says the 68-year-old.
Perhaps the most surprising chapter in Dana’s story was her decision to enter the 1997 race for the Irish presidency. Although she finished in third place, success in politics followed shortly afterwards when she was elected as an MEP for Connaught Ulster.
She has many highlights from her political career, including helping to establish international routes for Shannon airport, and improvements to Ireland's road infrastructure.
“I was on the transport committee and brought over German, French and English members of the committee and made them drive from Dublin to Sligo and from Sligo to Galway. Every time the car overtook all of the women closed her eyes. They couldn't believe the roads were so bad.
“To be able to make people aware of the needs of the people you represent is so humbling,” adds Dana, who in her presidential campaigns took an outspoken pro-life stance.
She admits she is “deeply saddened” by the legalisation of abortion in Ireland.
“We know the value of life and the tragedy of losing lives. It's a great tragedy, and especially in the north where it wasn't by the vote of the people.”
It was during her second run for Áras an Uachtarán in 2011 that historical sexual abuse allegations were made against her brother John. He was found not guilty in 2014, but Dana is still shaken by the experience.
“Like everybody’s life there are the really hard things that happen; they either crush you completely or they make you stronger – and I’m working on that,” she says.
This has included returning to music and the release last November of her 30th album, My Time, which was recorded in the historic Forum Studios in Rome.
?“Recording that album was so healing for me and one of the most important things I've ever done,” says Dana, who was accompanied by a number of esteemed musicians including Manny Elias (Tears For Fears) and Nigel Harrison (Blondie).
While worldwide publicity plans for My Time have been put on hold, Dana has been utilising technology in contributing to podcasts and broadcasts for this year’s Eurovision replacement celebration broadcast.
She has also teamed up with Scór, the GAA's singing and music competition, for a special online recording to celebrate her Eurovision golden anniversary.
Singing All Kinds of Everything from Australia, Dana is virtually joined by amateur musicians and singers from all over Ireland, for a performance she dedicates to health and care workers across the world.
Dana – The Original Derry Girl will be broadcast on RTÉ One on May 11 at 9.35pm, BBC One Northern Ireland on May 11 at 10.45pm and on BBC Radio 4 on May 15. You can watch Dana sing with Scór at https://youtu.be/8ucCjjIpgTM
