Leading Irish traditional group Dervish who represented Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 are the hosts and stars of a special Christmas show on Irish national broadcaster, RTÉ Radio One.

"The programme will be filled with humour, song, poetry and a dynamic Irish music session from Lissadell House in County Sligo," an RTÉ spokesperson has said.

Dervish will be joined on the show by numerous guests and major names from traditional Irish music. Since their formation in 1989 Dervish have performed on The Great Wall of China, in Rio de Janeiro and in auditoriums in the Holy Land, as well as representing Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007.

Releases such as Harmony Hill (1993), Midsummer’s Night (1999) and Travelling Show (2007) have seen Dervish consolidate their reputation as one of Ireland's most important trad bands, and they remain hugely popular on the roots scene here .

Irish Heartbeat with Dervish can be heard at 16:02 CET (15:02 local time)on Thursday 25thDecember on RTÉ Radio 1. You can listen to RTÉ Radio 1 live webstreamhere.

• Watch Dervish's performance here at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 held in Helsinki, Finland: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2G-wOyv-yI&ap=%2526fmt%3D18&rel=0