Five talking points from the Late Late New Year's Eve Special, from John Creedon to Wheatus
Host Patrick Kielty pictured at The Late Late New Year Special. Pictures: Andres Poveda
Early in the show, Kielty spoke to RTÉ radio presenter John Creedon whose show following the death of Sinéad O’Connor last July earned much acclaim for his touching tributes to the star in the hours after her death was announced.
Creedon said it seemed a natural way to mourn at home and abroad in those early hours of grief.
“I didn’t know anything until about 10 minutes before we went to hear and I heard Arena announce that Sinéad O’Connor had been found dead in London. Like the rest of the world, it was like a blow to the solar plexus, [she was] someone so young, so vibrant," he said.
"She was fearsome and she was fragile. She was an amazing artist. To hear she was gone like that was clearly a shock but the show must go on so clearly I tore up the running order. We just let the music do the talking.”
He said the messages pouring in were impossible to ignore, particularly because they were from her fans worldwide, not just Irish people abroad.
“These are not Radio One listeners,” he said. “It just seemed like the whole world was dipping in. It’s a strange honour in ways but the music speaks for itself.”
RTÉ is bringing out a new hidden camera show and star Carl Mullan says he and his co-stars Doireann Garrihy and Donncha O’Callaghan did such a convincing job that someone even called the gardaí.
“It was essentially myself, Doireann and Donncha going around terrorising the people of Ireland, doing our best to annoy the hell out of them,” he said.
“It was great craic to make an Irish hidden camera show. I’m glad I go out of it without getting a box — that was probably my biggest worry when we were doing it, you never know who you’re going to come across. Someone did call the guards on us, that was good and we made a few people angry.”
However, he said everyone they pranked took it well, with some even contacting them afterwards to say thanks for the experience.
Among the nation’s highlights of 2023 are the Irish successes at the Oscars, including An Irish Goodbye’s win for best live-action short film.
Star James Martin’s birthday coincided with Oscars night and he joined the NYE special to reflect on the experience of having a room full of A-list celebrities sing ‘Happy Birthday’ for him after their film won.
“To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting it,” he said. “Five thousand actors singing ‘Happy Birthday’, you just think 'pinch me right now'.”
One of the musical guests on the night was Midge Ure, who joined the party to sing his beloved song ‘Vienna’. John Lennon pipped him to the top slot in the UK charts at the time, but he still holds a slight grudge for the other song that knocked him off the number one slot in 1981: Shaddap You Face by Joe Dolce.
Kielty didn’t ease tensions when he revealed he was among those who chose Dolce’s record over Ure’s at the time.
“I've never met anyone who's actually admitted to buying this record, Shaddap You Face,” Ure said, before Kielty interjected: “I bought it. in 1981 I was 10 years of age. Vienna was too sophisticated for me!”
Speaking of the music, the New Year Special saw a host of musical acts perform to ring in 2024, including international acts like Ure and Wheatus, as well as homegrown talent such as The Tumbling Paddies, Niamh Kavanagh, Camille O’Sullivan, Allie Sherlock, and Maverick Sabre.
Here are some of the performances from the night:
