Nation shares pride at Eurovision qualification

Ryan O’Shaughnessy has booked a place for Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest Final in Lisbon, and the nation has been sharing their pride at him getting through.
Ryan’s result marks the first time Ireland has qualified for the final since 2013.
Among those sending their well wishes to Ryan following the news are past Ireland Eurovision representatives Nicky Byrne, Brendan Murray and Dustin the Turkey.

After the announcement that Ryan was through, Nicky took to Twitter praising his “fantastic performance.”
Brendan congratulated Ryan adding that “it’s times like this I’m proud to be Irish.”

In classic Dustin the Turkey form, he tweeted a simple but effective “go on ya good thing”.

Christian Tierney, the director of the video for Ryan’s song Together, shared a clip of Ryan’s performance on the night with the caption, “Up the town” and an tricolour emoji.

Irish country music singer Lisa McHugh praised the “great tune” while congratulating Ryan on getting into the finale, while actor and presenter Rory Cowan shared his delight at the “brilliant result.”

Social media has been awash with support for Ryan, and the excitement is sure to build over the coming days before he takes to the stage in Lisbon for the grand finale on Saturday.

The second Eurovision Song Contest Semi-Final takes place in Lisbon on Thursday and will be broadcast on RTÉ2, RTÉ Radio 1 and the RTÉ Player from 8:00pm.
The Eurovision Grand Final takes place on Saturday, May 12 at 8pm on RTÉ One.
RTE.ie