Why Didn’t Órla Join For The 20th Anniversary Show?

Old topic, but no one had mentioned it and I’m confused. Órla was one of the original members and she was just cast aside 😭 and she’s still active as a musician, so the only possibilities I could think of are:

-She refused to dye her hair blonde
-Some sort of legal issue after she left…?
-They wanted to have just four members back to match the 2024 quartet…but then why did they single her out specifically…?
-She’s not as popular as the rest…? It  seems kind of rude, but the other four original members seem to have more fans…which is kind of surprising because her voice…? Hello? And she plays the harp!!
-Órla hasn’t rejoined at all and she was one of the first to leave? Méav left first (technically, Deirdre and Hayley did, but I don’t think either of them were signed permanently), but she rejoined twice as a member (if I recall correctly) and she worked behind the scenes with Gavin Murphy a lot. Lisa, Chloë, and Máiréad N were also involved a lot. Órla left after five years and never came back.
-This is assuming they didn’t want her back…maybe they asked her and she didn’t want to? That makes more sense because why wouldn’t they want Órla 😭


Anyway, whatever the reason is, I’m disappointed because Órla is my favourite member!  At least she has a prosperous solo career…

I don't know all the reasons, but my understanding is they didn't ask her.

I agree that it sucked to exclude her.

-This is assuming they didn’t want her back…maybe they asked her and she didn’t want to? That makes more sense because why wouldn’t they want Órla 😭

I have also wondered the same question. My personal theory has been they asked her, but she declined. But I've never heard anything anywhere on the subject, like you kind of alluded to.

25 is a big anniversary for a lot of shows, e.g. Riverdance, Phantom, Les Mis. I'm hoping this gets corrected for 25, in addition to inviting everyone. Everyone = 20 CW.

-This is assuming they didn’t want her back…maybe they asked her and she didn’t want to? That makes more sense because why wouldn’t they want Órla 😭

I have also wondered the same question. My personal theory has been they asked her, but she declined. But I've never heard anything anywhere on the subject, like you kind of alluded to.

25 is a big anniversary for a lot of shows, e.g. Riverdance, Phantom, Les Mis. I'm hoping this gets corrected for 25, in addition to inviting everyone. Everyone = 20 CW.

It would be lovely to see all the members together for the 25th! Imagine an instrumental with Máiréad N, Tara, Órla, and Éabha 😍. I always thought it was a shame that we never got an instrumental with Máiréad and Órla doing a fiddle-harp duet. The closest we got was the original Don Oíche Úd I mBeithil.

I think someone close to her posted that she already had something booked.

I think someone close to her posted that she already had something booked.

Oh, okay! That makes sense…I wonder what it was? Thank you! Do you know who said this?

The reason I’m only replying is not whether they did reached out and she declined because she could not attend.

I’m here to say how it turned out, the setup of You Raise Me Up,
3 current singers, 1 current fiddler, 3 original singers, 1 original fiddler

However, this doesn’t mean you can’t have one more, the original lineup was 4 with Mairead N (5) at the time.