'We could not be more proud of her': Cork's Lottie to represent Ireland at Junior Eurovision
Cork teen Lottie O’Driscoll Murray won the national competition to represent her nation in the annual event, and you can see how she gets on in Tbilisi, Georgia, as it is televised on TG4 at 4pm.
Lottie will perform the Irish language ballad Rúin (Secrets) and compete against entries from 17 other countries, including Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, and the reigning champions Georgia.
Lottie secured her place on the international stage after emerging victorious in the final of TG4’s five-part Junior Eurovision Éire series, which saw 10 finalists selected from hundreds of young performers across Ireland.
Eurovision legend Niamh Kavanagh was on the judging panel that made the crucial decision to put Lottie through to the studio heats, with Linda Martin casting one of the deciding votes to secure Lottie’s place in Junior Eurovision history.
Lottie’s mother Celine told The Echo she was over the moon at Lottie’s win.
“I’m so proud of her, she has such strength and determination,” she said. “Lottie stuck with her dream and she went for it, and we could not be more proud of her.” She added that the support Lottie has received locally has been “unreal”.
“We are grateful for all the support from the people of Cork, who have been behind Lottie since day one, following and sharing videos and tuning in every week.”
Voting for this year’s Junior Eurovision is open worldwide through JESC.TV, and unlike the senior competition, fans are allowed to vote for their own country.
With all of Cork already behind Lottie, she will be hoping now for the support of the whole country as well.
It is a redemption story of sorts for the teenager, as she narrowly missed out at the semi-final stage of the competition in 2024.
As part of the build-up, Lottie filmed a music video for her song entry in the Wicklow Mountains,
Lottie will be hoping to become the first Irish winner of Junior Eurovision, which started in 2003 and sees performances by children aged 9 to 14.
The best effort so far was fourth place, achieved by Sophie Lennon in 2022.
Since then, Sophie’s career has flourished with appearances on America’s Got Talent and a management deal with Tim Byrne, former manager of One Direction.
She credits Junior Eurovision as the beginning of her journey.
App?
