This January, Eimhin passes on the Saw Doctors’ sticks that he grasped with such vigor and skill at the start of 2007, to Rickie O’Neill.

Éimhín had been familiar with The Saw Doctors’ canon over the years and had an extra knowledge of the gigs from his supporting The Saw Doctors with Noelie McDonnell, in both Ireland and Britain. His first gig was the Inauguration Ball of the newly elected Governor of Maryland, Martin O’Malley in Baltimore.

Éimhín’s flair and talent on the drums brought the power and dramatic capability of the band to unprecedented levels. His writing, arranging and recording contributions to ‘The Further Adventures…’ were immense and will, I believe, stand the test of time as some of the best recordings the band has ever achieved. He moves on now and we wish him all the best in all his future pursuits and we are lucky that he has brought Rickie O’Neill in to take over the kit.

Rickie is 21 and an incredibly talented drummer, and Éimhin has worked with him over the last few months in order to make the switchover as smooth as possible – and it couldn’t have been any smoother. Rickie, being a national record-holder in the butterfly, will know how important it is to have smooth switchovers in relay races, and the smoothness of his and Éimhín’s would definitely put any team in the running for a record performance.

Rickie already has a Glasgow Barrowland and a Manchester Apollo under his belt, amongst other shows from the end of the Winter Tour around Britain and Ireland and he and the rest of us are seriously looking forward to the two upcoming shows in The Olympia in Dublin and then on to the six-week adventure around the US (and a bit of Canada) It’ll be a pleasure to be introducing the Claremorris Man to the cities, venues and fans across North America, on this, our most ambitious trip in a long time.

For now, a huge thanks to Éimhín for all the fun and music over the last few years – we wish you health, peace and happiness for 2012 and way beyond.

Leo