How 'N17' set out on the road to becoming one of our best-loved songs

New RTE show explores origins of Saw Doctors hit

- LARISSA NOLAN

IT'S the emigration anthem that brought international acclaim for a little-known band from Galway.

Now a new RTE show tells what made The Saw Doctor's N17 one of Ireland's' favourite songs.

Presenter Garry MacDonncha described it as a hit that "lives forever in our hearts; raises a smile and pulls at the heartstrings".

Aistear an Amhran, on RTE tonight, reveals how Waterboy Mike Scott, performance art group Macnas and the Feile music festival played a part in its success.

It might never have happened at all, without a friend buying Saw Doctor Leo Moran a guitar, and a rent-acrowd starter gig in Galway hotspot The Quays.