AN IRISH dancing champion from St Albans is busy rehearsing in Dublin for an up-and-coming European tour. Louise Walsh, who turned 21 today, first started Irish dancing at the age of five when her mother Irene took her to a class at the Caledon Club in

AN IRISH dancing champion from St Albans is busy rehearsing in Dublin for an up-and-coming European tour.

Louise Walsh, who turned 21 today, first started Irish dancing at the age of five when her mother Irene took her to a class at the Caledon Club in London Colney after noticing that Louise had a natural flair for dancing to Celtic tunes.

Louise, who lives in The Park, is currently on tour with Irish dance show Gaelforce and since last week she and a cast of fellow Irish dancers have been practising for up to nine hours a day in preparation for the shows opening in Poland on March 15.

Louise, who recently won the senior prelim Irish dancing championship in Edinburgh, said that she felt at home in Dublin: "There is a wide variety of people that I train with who come from countries all around the world, but although everyone is talking in different languages, we all get on so well. So aside from my mum's cooking, I'm not missing home too much yet!"

She added: "Even the weather has treated us well. I thought that because we are in Ireland, it would be raining all the time. But in fact it has been nothing but dry and everyone back home in England is stuck with snow."

Louise, who used to go to Beaumont Secondary School, is one of the youngest cast members in Gaelforce, which is touring Poland, Czech Republic and Russia and tells the story of a man who falls in love with his brother's wife.

She said that she was excited for the first performance in Poland: "I love the music and the feel of the dance and how rhythmic the show is, so I cannot wait to perform in front of an audience. Irish dancing means a lot to me and I hope to become an Irish dancing teacher eventually.