A weekly virtual concert is helping older people around the country feel as if they are among friends.
The National Concert Hall's Tea Dance Tunes is being held over Zoom with everyone welcome to attend, particularly people living with dementia, their carers and families.
Audiences are encouraged to join in, sing along and dance while vocalist Liz Ryan and special guests perform songs from a range of genres.
Due to popular demand, the events, which had been traditionally held every two months before the pandemic, are now held weekly each Wednesday between 11am and 12pm.
The concerts are free to attend but donations are welcomed, while spaces are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.
Liz Ryan, who is a vocalist with the National Concert Hall, said she hopes to continue with the concerts next year.
Speaking on Lunchtime Live she said: "We are opening out to as many people as would like to join us because we're going to continue with this initiative into the New Year from February onwards.
"The kind of music we do on the Zoom platform is not so much opera but anything that people want, Irish ballads, Christmas songs, a lot of the requests that people send us in are songs from way in the past.
"I think the Irish people are getting a little bit less shy of being on camera, certainly it was something that I had to work on myself, and I've seen a huge difference from when we progressed from last March."
Today at 11 am @NCH_Music will hold Tea Dance Tunes, our dementia-friendly concerts, live via Zoom with opportunities for our host, Liz, and our guests to interact. More information is available below: https://t.co/wW5u2GWJJT pic.twitter.com/lCHICrt3fE
— National Concert Hall (@NCH_Music) December 9, 2020
She added: "We also make it very personal by talking to each person that comes into the chat room.
"It's kind of like a mix between being welcomed into our home and almost a little bit like a game show where we're talking to all these various panels, asking them for their stories, their songs, their dances.
"It's a new format but I think we're all starting to learn how to work it."
'A family atmosphere'
Janice Dobbi attends the virtual concerts along with her husband every week and is enjoying them "very much".
She said: "We did attend it in the concert hall in previous years but I never would have participated at all, I wouldn't have dreamt of it.
"I love singing, I love music but I would simply have attended.
"I remember thinking at the time as Liz was going around among the audience, I definitely thought if she comes near me I'm looking the other way because I'm very shy."
Janice added that she feels as if she is among friends or family when partaking in the virtual event.
She said: "When it came to Zoom, it was on camera, I did enjoy it every week and as she has said, it's more of a family atmosphere and its a much smaller group.
"You feel like you are getting to know others who are there and it's a much more intimate setting.
Janice explained there is much more variety in the music and she said that each week, she and her husband Jim look out to see familiar people on the call.
She said: "On Zoom, you do feel you are among friends, you're not too intimidated."
You can find more information on signing up to attend the Zoom concerts here.
