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THIS YEAR’S TOY Show comes after one serious week of news, and it had a big job to cleanse all those worries off our minds – which it did effortlessly, of course, thanks to ‘alleged adult’ Ryan Tubridy, and his Lion King-themed team.
With one blast of ‘Hakuna Matata’, and Ryan reaching into an ostrich teddy’s bum, the show got into full swing – with Ryan gently warning the kids at home that the Suez Canal issues might affect Santa’s delivering ability this year.
As is the case every year, the kids stole the show. Here are some highlights if you missed it, or just want to relive it.
1. The cool line-up of kids
Giggly Alanna started the Toy Show off with a bang. Even though the first toy didn’t work quite right (that didn’t take long), she moved swiftly onto the next thing like a TV pro.
Then there was Lorcan the Ketchup King, who after testing out some toys, went back to squeeze a ketchup bottle dry, leaving Tubridy to say: “Why do you need toys, when you can have ketchup?” A worthy message for a Toy Show.
Also shoutout to the kid who told Poor Ed Sheeran he’s heard his song about “1.2 million times”. That kid’s been counting.
This was before he was offered tickets to see him live, of course.
2. Róisín, the Five-asaurus
Róisín, who is just five years old (FIVE), did a rapid-fire question round on dinosaur toys, which she wheeled confidently on set in a pram.
Sitting opposite Ryan in massive dinosaur claw gloves, even picking up a tiny cupcake didn’t phase her. Prehistoric greatness.
3. Calum and his little brother Jackson, the DJs
In line with current government guidelines, nightclubs must close by midnight. So to stay within these rules, kid DJ Calum lined up a catchy track for a talented group of dancers before the night got too late.
Dublin Gaeilgeoir Calum and his little brother Jackson spoke about how they love what they do, and how they “get the crowd going” – it wasn’t long before the Strawberry Alarm Clock invited them on.
When Calum welled up after Ryan and the Toy Show gifted him some fresh new DJ equipment, his little brother did what all little brothers would do on national television, and pointed it out that he was emotional at the gift.
Calum did what any other brother would do, and told him to ‘shush’.
4. Finn, who rang the bell on cancer
Finn, the lego kid, ringing (and breaking) the bell for cancer. 💪 #LateLateToyShow pic.twitter.com/8nnhjuffot
— TheJournal.ie (@thejournal_ie) November 26, 2021
When young Finn had cancer, he told Ryan that all he could play with was Lego.
While hooked up to machines in hospital, he played with the toy Lego pieces while receiving treatment.
Finn got the all-clear during the Covid-19 pandemic, but didn’t get to celebrate the moment properly because of hospital restrictions in place at the time. On the Late Late tonight, he rang the bell on cancer.
As a gift, Ryan and the Late Late Toy Show gave Finn and his family a trip to Legoland in Denmark. A great gift for a brave kid.
5. Abigale, the fashionista
Me in someone’s kitchen at 4am #LateLateToyShow pic.twitter.com/oEassMaJgD
— Niamh Ní Phiondar (@niamhpender_) November 26, 2021
A woman of style and substance, as Ryan put it, Abigale was made to be on television.
She even made the weird wheel-of-fortune sock game look fun.
6. Úna, the harpist
Úna, who is hard of hearing, played a beautiful rendition of ‘A Million Dreams’, from The Greatest Showman.
Úna was diagnosed a bit late as being hard of hearing, because during a hearing test in senior infants, she got all the right answers by lip reading the testers, so they didn’t think there was anything wrong. Now, she is on television showing her musical prowess.
7. Kellie Harrington – a good sport
The Olympic champ came on the show as a guest tonight – after years of failing to get tickets as an audience member.
Not only did she donate signed gloves and Olympic vests to the two girls – she donated her time to visit the girls’ school for a boxing lesson.
And also took part in a wacky dress-up challenge which involved wearing boxing gloves. After Ryan handed her a pair and said ‘do you know how to use these’ – Ryan’s lucky she didn’t use them.
8. ‘Lil Sips’, the rapper
A rap name inspired by the cure for hiccups, he said ‘blunts’ live on air, and he didn’t throw away his shot on the book review Toy Show slot.
What a lad.
9. Isabella, the Francophile
Isabella gave the country some stress relief advice (did anyone else take notes), talked about how she would love to visit the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum.
Isabella, her brother AJ, her parents and her auntie Mairéad are going to Paris and Disneyland, thanks to Aer Lingus and the Late Late Show crew. A lovely family gift, particularly for mother Claire, who won carer of the year for Co Clare this week.
Trés bien.
10. Jamie and Coben, the cool Cork rappers
Corkonian rappers Jamie and Coben got a request from music superstar Ed Sheeran, and began rapping after turning down a beat-box backing from him.
In fairness, they didn’t need it.
11. The Irish public’s kindness
The Revolut option to donate money to this year’s Toy Show appeal crashed – such was the generosity of this year’s Late Late Toy Show viewership.
It gathered over €3.3 million during the three-hour fun fest.
If you’d like to donate to the Toy Show appeal, donations can be made here.
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Verona Murphy, based on interviews, doesn’t seem to have a clue what the job entails
@Dermot Blaine: She knows how much it pays .. everything else is in the small print,for her to read at her absolute leisure.
@Brian: she of virgin media tonight show fame during a housing crisis wearing all coco Chanel not realising there was/is a nationwide housing crisis.
@Nemethon: Up there with Macron slipping off his 8Ok watch during the pension interview.. lol.
@Enoch Kochwomble: Nice one!
@Brian: and guaranteed a seat in the next Dáil
@Enoch Kochwomble: . You put yourself up for election and see how you do. Sneering at people on an internet forum where the only thing you have to exercise is your thumb is the easy option. Reading the bulk of the comments, yours included, on this thread clearly illustrates that.
@Basildon Joe: Ordinary people who voted for her as an independent will feel very let down. Heard her on radio last week saying she would only get involved in government if the deal was right for the people of Wexford who put their trust in her. Not long jumping on the train. Cha ching
@Dermot Blaine: Clown Comhairle? I only recall her for the ISIS comments and deprogramming of 3 years olds. Not the sharpest knife it seems.
@Brian: so far out of touch. But at the end of the day she was a thorn in the side of FG and FF so come the next election she won’t be a concern to them.
@Nemethon: If she is returned automatically does that not mean that there is one less seat for FF and FG to contest in Wexford? As it is she topped the poll in Wexford and was elected on the first count. She finished 2,500 votes ahead of James Browne of FF and 6,500 votes ahead of Cathal Byrne of FG. FG have no seat in Wexford. Whilst I don’t agree with her policies it is clear to see that she is and will continue to be a thorn in the sides of FF and especially FG.
@Basildon Joe: Quarter mill isn’t it?
@Brian: and our expense…
@Richard Ford: she can’t speak in the Dail or represent her constituency so why did she stand liked her till now looks like once in fg always in fg
@Richard Ford: She won’t be standing next time so they won’t have to worry & people still vote
@John Reynolds: No but she can stop either FF or FG picking up an extra seat in Wexford. As it is FG don’t have a seat in Wexford.
@Richard Ford: Means that she has to remain neutral for 5 years plus govt needs less independents to form govt as Sean o joins govt. Stable govt.
Wexford looses a TD
.
So much for representing an area.
@Tom: genuine question, is that what happens? would they still not have to represent that area ?
@Tom: She was always out for herself and her own agenda anyway.
@CP: she not allowed speak in the Dail, propose or oppose legislation, raise local issues, question ministers on issues other than Dail business, even in private. If there’s a protest march in Wexford against, say, a housing development, she’s not allowed attend or even comment publicly
@Dermot Blaine: . Someone has to be Ceann Comhairle. It’s looking like WexFord will have two TDs in opposition who can undertake the activities you specify.
@Tom: should be a non elected chairperson so to be completely objective
@CP: the CC is required to remain independent and impartial. Their job is to facilitate the orderly running of the Dail and they are not allowed to advocate for or against anything so effectively they can’t operate as a TD. That’s unfortunate for their constituents but that’s how the system works.
@Richard Ford: perhaps, but her voters wanted an independent voice.
@Dermot Blaine: That’s a fair point.
Thought all she wanted to do was to represent the people of Wexford.
How she going to do that now.
Money money money !!!!
@Peter Calvey: she is an independent !!! what do you think ?
@Peter Calvey: You fell for the promises of a polititan?
That’s some high paid gig
Get the popcorn ready. Completely clueless.
@Joy Fantastic.: She’ll fit in nicely so!
Ah finally! We get our own ‘Marjorie Taylor Greene’ clone.
What happened to the announcement that Simon Harris had resigned?
@Charly McTune: because new Dail is sitting, it’s a formality and he continues as Taoiseach until new one is elected
@Charly McTune: If only!
@Brian Hunt: I know. I was gettin’ ahead of meself there!
@Charly McTune: *getting, *myself
@Ciaran: Thanks Ciaran. I was actually spelling them correctly for the purposes of a joke. But I suppose if you have to explain…
I hope she is more impartial and independently moral, than she hinted at in the run up to the election of the Ceann Comhairle, if not she should be called to task!
@Ollie Fitzpatrick: she’s a right-wing independent, there is nothing impartial about her. They exist to prop up Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, nothing more and nothing less.
@Áine F: Agreed, impartiality should be foremost in her mind! Sad that these so-called “independents” will drive or crash this government similarly to the Cabbage-Heads in the last one. They are not “independent”, they are, in fact, de facto members of FF/FG and conned the electorate by saying they were independent!!!
Cash machine money
€255k annually plus expenses is staggering money for this position and an insult !
@Mike Ryan: It’s just another example of this shower wasting taxpayers money
She can use the extra money to pay legal fees next year….. Lol. Drinkin tae, cuttin grass and writin letters…
oh goodie….
€1,250,000 is a nice bit of cash for 5 years work. In fairness I’d abandon the Wexford folk for that. My disabled sister will get under €60,000 for the same 5 years.. and oh yeah, she doesn’t get any top ups or expenses. She also won’t get any parachute payment or pension pot.
@Paul Whitehead: doesn’t get 100k or more a week for kicking a soccer ball around a field
@Johnny Wilson: she’s in wheelchair, so no.
Great to see people get the job because they have a vag
Before today the Dail had not sat since early November and now FF/FG want to take a 5 week break for Christmas…Je*us wept !!
Too extreme to stand for FG in the election but OK to keep FG Ff in power
@Frank Kenny: Same with Lowry. FF/FG won’t entertain going into coalition with Sinn Féin but will with convicted criminal Michael Lowry.
The CC salary is obscene!!
A bullyx a xchancerxshell go far
O Fearghail did a good job but he has had the position for over 8 years and that’s long enough
@Basildon Joe: Like Michael D, with all the free dinners, they are as wide as they are tall!
@Basildon Joe: Is there any chance you might do something useful with your time?
@John Manahan: What exactly is doing a good job ?
@Richard Ford: no go away
@Alan Power: Ah poor diddums. Boo hoo.
@John Manahan: They don’t do Pork Pies in Dail Eireann, that is more the House of Commons!
At least the fat guy is gone. Is he?
@smatrix mantra: he’s now a regular td
Good luck to her. I suppose. Delighted that Wolfe Toner has been put back in his ink cartridge box.
@honey badger: She blamed homeless people for being homeless, she tarred all immigrants as terrorists and claimed their kids were being brsinwashed, she’s a right-wing loon who has only recently begun to keep her right-wing views to herself. Not surprised she’d be your choice though.
@Anthony Curran: Sounds like your issue is with the 89 politicians who voted for her. Are you just salty Wolfe Toner was laughed out of the building? I didn’t endorse any candidate, except to say ‘anyone but O’Snodaigh.’ Stop telling lies, Tony.
@honey badger: Poor ol’ Snodser!
@Brian Hunt: It’s been described as a humiliation for him.
@Anthony Curran: I remember her on telly as head of the haulage association, laughing when she heard a cyclist had been killed when a pedestrian stepped out in front of him. Horrible woman.
@honey badger:
I say he must know her better than all the TDs that have worked with her over the years…
I wonder when he worked so extensively with her?
@honey badger: once again you don’t have the courage of your convictions to nail your true colours to the mast. Yet you continually support FFG neoliberal policies and Zionist genocide. Usually by deflecting any criticism of them onto your bogey men and women in SinnFein or Hamas.
@honey badger: She said all those things and more. That is the fact of it! She is more right wing than FG.
Why would ye salute that gimp.
@Gavin Smartr: As Captain Winters said in Band of Brothers: ” we salute the rank…”
Alan Kelly wears ill fitting specs!!!
@Donal Sweeney: Should’ve gone to Specsavers!
Bye Bye SF failure
Congrats to Verona. But I cannot help but think that it is a waste of a potentially very good TD.
@Michael Dineen: she’s under the impression she was have influence at cabinet and will still be able to work for her constituents in the Dail. Wrong and wrong again. I’d say her support base are peed off
@Dermot Blaine: *she will
@Michael Dineen: Nope, she was always a glorified lobbyist as a TD.
Verona Murphy isn’t perfect, but she’s probably the best out of a bad group running for the position. O Fearghail is a Chinese stooge who I wouldn’t be surprised is a paid agent for the CCP. He praised the detainment, forced sterilisation and killing of the Uyghurs in East Turkestan (Xinjiang), supports the crackdown on pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong and reportedly denied the Tiananmen Square massacre. O Snodaigh, on the other hand, spend 50,000 euro of taxpayer money on ink cartridges, tried to claim expenses for renovating a bathroom in his house, visited the man who murdered Garda Jerry McCabe, seven of his campaign staff were jailed for being IRA members, is a virulent antisemite who praises Hamas and severely injured two off-duty British soldiers via a parcel-bomb he laid down.
@Frank O’Hara: Why you always lying Frank? Why don’t you have the same level of dislike for the people who have overspent billions on a hospital? Being pro Palestine is not being pro Hamas. Are you stoopid or just thick?
@Anthony Curran: Are you low-IQ or something Anthony, you Sinn Fein bootlicker? Being pro-“Palestinian” is being pro-Hamas. You are cheering for a bunch of medieval animals in their terrorist rags. Over 85% of the “Palestinians” (who are a made-up group of people created in 1964 by the Soviet Union to expand their hegemony in the Middle East) either “supported” or “strongly supported” the October 7th massacre, as well as celebrating and cheering when 9/11 happened. Everything I said above is true and it’s not my fault if facts offend you. I’ve also criticised the failed Socialist economic policies of FG/FF many times Anthony and their conduct with the Children’s Hospital. If it were up to me, I’d have already completely privatised the healthcare system and abolished the HSE bureaucracy.
@Frank O’Hara: Christ, that’s the biggest load of codswallop I’ve ever read on a Journal comment section. And that’s saying something.
@Frank O’Hara: So “the Balfour Plan” did not exist then and the long history of the entire region going back to the Canaanites in the early bronze age. The region Palestine has existed for centauries.
Blaming Russia on the creation of Palestinians is simple not true. People have lived there for thousands of years and it was one of the places Homo Erectus remains and settlements have been found which are 1.5 million years old!!!. The Crusaders created The Kingdom Of Palestine in 1099! All these historic facts make you points null and void!
Why oh why do people keep voting for FF and Michael Martin…. His contempt for the people of Ireland has no limit….
Mary Lou’s bid to become Taoiseach lol
Bargaining chip to independents to form government
Fantastic great to see congratulations
Good, the first female CC, I wish her all the very best in her new role, I am sure she will be very capable of keeping the Dail in order
@Alan Power: Tell me you know nothing about Verruca without telling me you know nothing about Verruca.
@Anthony Curran: Using childish nicknames just speaks volumes about your own lack of intellect.
@Alan Power: why is the gender of the CC relevant? Surely competence and suitability for the position is all that’s relevant.
@Social Guy: it’s historical, just like when Mary Robinson became first female president
@Sun Rise: Strangely enough, I’ve never seen you get your knickers in a twist when Mary Lou is labelled Mary loo roll by the resident Journal trolls.
Anti vax (but got the jab) anti 5g anti immigration a proven workplace bully. Thinks kids going to creches are in Isis. Might of welll of giving the job to Philip Dwyer
Ah Mary Loser have you no shame. Get out
Great to see a strong independent woman who’s not just a party lackey take that position
@Liam Nicholas: she is a fine gael lackey!
@Liam Nicholas: She took this job on principles,nothing to do with the 250k per annum salary plus expenses. Plus a guarantee of a seat in next Dail.
She will make a grand speaker and some common sense from this lot.
@Ned: We don’t have a speaker in Dail Eireann!,
Fair Play. A first for the Dáil.
Looking at the comments tells me that this country is awash with insightful political commentators.
We are blessed to have them.
@JP: Murphy is a very flawed person (that’s the polite phrasing). I don’t have confidence in her integrity or ability to do this job. She got it by means of ‘horse-trading’ in government formation negotiations.
Misogynists on here, clear to see, standard for the Journal comments section of course
Good appointment. Some of the comments here are about as laughable as that story about that Russian general being assassinated by a bomb on an e- scooter.
So it begins, the divvying out of the spoils.
And head of the queue is one of our ”Independents”, the class of politician that many saw as providing a principled alternative to the “gravy train” shenanigans that informed much of our politics during the decades leading to the near destruction of the State in 2008—an event that heralded the rise of the “Independents” At least the electorate can now see that the “Independent” new dawn was but a pipe dream. They too are as likely as the rest to be guided by self agrradishment.
The handing this ridiculously lucrative position to an “Independent” was the price Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael had to pay to get into power—the consequence of their failure to secure a mandate to govern in the ballot box. One has to wonder did anyone involved in this grubby business wonder what price those in poverty, our legion of hungry children and the homeless, will pay. Five more years of the same governance that went before. No hope of any changes in policy and particularly no hope of a more hands-0n government to address these great social ills.
It is long past time that the electorate was more discerning when casting votes and kept firmly in mind G.B. Shaw’s truism, “Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve”
Yet another ridiculous stunt by Sinn Fein, wha
The comments section needs to be more gay friendly
@Alan Power: Why?
@Alan Power: It can’t be. It’s barely friendly in any manner.
@Brian Hunt: it’s very hostile
@Jack Hayes: that is right
Fair play.
225000 x 5
Fix – get the independents into government without a spot and pay them off with this. Democracy in action but this is the stuff that annoys the ordinary person on the street
Well done FFG voters the refugee accomadators, estate buying vulture funds and your emigrating children will be proud if you
Shocking how many people do not understand the way our parliament works!
The reason for the switch was to take out a possible wild card from the pack and replace it with a FF card.
Without putting an opposition party person in the job.
have your say