Jedward at odds with airport chiefs over homecoming

A major row is brewing between Jedward and the Dublin Airport Authority over the twins having a big homecoming reception at Dublin Airport when they return from the Eurovision Song Contest on Sunday evening.

Whether they win or not at the Saturday night final, the Lucan lads are adamant that they want to have a big homecoming event at the airport when they arrive back at 6.30pm on Sunday.

But the word is that the DAA do not want it because of “safety reasons”. They are believed to be in fear of thousands of Jedward fans turning up to greet the pair, even though similar events, in both the sporting and showbiz worlds, have successfully taken place at the airport over the years.

Last night, Paul O’Kane of the DAA would only say: “No final decision has been made,” and refused to comment further.

A DAA spokesman last night added: “Jedward are due in on Sunday evening and they will be facilitated. But no specific event is planned.”

Jedward’s tour manager Liam McKenna would only confirm that negotiations were still ongoing with the DAA over the twins’ arrival.

Their manager Louis Walsh is busy with the X Factor and is staying out of the potential row, but word amongst the Irish delegation in Baku is that Jedward’s handlers have been warned not to get involved in a high-profile dispute — otherwise there will be no reception or press conference at the airport.

The authorities reportedly at first declared that Jedward would be met on the tarmac and whisked out a rear exit of the airport to avoid any fans. But Jedward have voiced their desire for a big reception at home.

John Grimes yesterday said: “We want to have the biggest homecoming ever. We want to give an hour-long speech like Barack Obama. We’re going to tweet all our 600,000 followers on Planet Jedward.”

Meanwhile, John and Edward gave an interview to the BBC, in which they claimed that they are responsible for bringing a “mainstream” audience to the contest after they made it through to the final from Tuesday night’s semi-final.

John said: “We’ve brought a whole brand new audience to Eurovision. I feel like we have made it an amazing competition to watch on TV. The whole thing is just so awesome, we’re having so much fun. We’ve kind of brought it back to its glory days.

“Our water fountain feature has never been done before. They’ve never had water onstage before.”