IRISH dancers at Urmston's St Antony's Catholic College completed a superb hat trick in the North West regional championships.

Niamh Redmond came third in the under-18 event, her sister Roisin came second at under 5 age level - and top spot went to Holly Duffy in the under-14 championships.

All the girls come from Urmston with Niamh and Roisin training with the Morgan School of Irish Dance and Holly at her mum's school, Duffy Travis Academy.

They all practise for at least 15 hours each week and want to work in the global Irish dance shows made famous by River Dance's Michael Flatley and also own and manage their own dance schools.

The girls high kicking and dynamic foot work might look easy, but as Niamh said: “The harder you work, the easier it looks.”

Niamh, who is currently working at her former school St. Antony's as an administration assistant in her gap year before university, added: “Our friends all think it's pretty cool when they see how fast and how high we can get, but I'm not sure if they know just how much work goes into it.”

Holly, who previously came eighth in the world is hoping to improve yet further when they are held in Dublin this year, detailed the exhausting training regime.

She said: “I do four two hour dance classes every week and train for at least an hour every day.

"On top of that I do physio sessions to stretch and maintain the flexibility in my muscles.”

Roisin added: “We are all very competitive especially me and my sister Niamh.

"We all want to beat each other, but we all want each other to do as well as possible too.”

St. Antony's headteacher, Fiona Wright, said: “Everyone at St. Antony's, staff and pupils alike, simply loves watching Holly, Roisin and Niamh dance and we all think they are all simply amazing.

"They dance with such grace that you can forget the hidden power. They are extraordinarily dedicated and a credit to their families and our community.”