April 8, 1996
(Executive Council)

NOTE TO EDITORS:

Premier to present Juno award to the Irish Descendants in St. John's, April 9

Brian Tobin, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, will present the prestigious Juno award to the Irish Descendants in St. John's on Tuesday, April 9 at the Portos Restaurant at the Delta Hotel and Conference Centre at 3 p.m.

The Irish Descendants were awarded a Juno for the Best Roots Traditional Album by a group at the 25th annual ceremonies in Hamilton. The group was unavailable to attend the awards ceremony because of a cross country tour which found them in western Canada.

1996 has gotten off to a great start for Newfoundland and Labrador's musical ambassadors. In January they completed recording album #4 for a May 96 release, they received a gold record recognizing sales of over 50,000 copies of their album "Look to the Sea" and the album "Gypsies and Lovers" is not far behind. In the last two months, the Irish Descendants have performed for over 20,000 Canadians on their cross country tour.

Contact: Cathy Coady, Office of the Premier, (709) 729-3564; or Fred Brokenshire, Duckworth Distribution, (709) 753-9292.