In the spirit of the Eurovision, it was all in good fun.
As far as Eurovision song contests go, the 2017 edition had it all.
It had plenty of, eh, interesting music, loads of colour, a definite sense of ceremony and occasion and an Australian baring his arse to an international audience.
In the end, as you probably know by now, it was Portugal’s Salvador Sobral that ended up taking the spoils with ‘Amar Pelos Dois,’ marking what has been a pretty good 10 months or so for the country in European contests following the football team’s victory at Euro 2016 last summer.
Clip via Eurovision Song Contest
With Ireland’s contestant, Brendan Murray, having failed to qualify for last night’s final, Irish Eurovision viewers were happy to cast critical judgement on the finalists from afar and the response towards the entry from the UK contestant, Lucie Jones, was lukewarm at best.
While the United Kingdom did receive four points from the Irish public via a televote, the Irish jury awarded the UK a grand total of zero points, a rather emphatic statement considering that, in the interests of diplomacy and neighbourly relations, Ireland were always good for a few points from the UK and vice versa.
Brexit. Must be Brexit.
Lucie Jones took to Twitter to throw a playful dig towards Ireland for the lack of love shown to her song last night and, inevitably, there were some digs thrown swiftly back.
Oooooh Ireland. It burns!!
— Lucie Jones (@luciejones1) May 13, 2017
Irish people appreciate music and that's why your song got no vote. Also it's not a vote for your neighbour contest.
— Ian Murphy (@murpho) May 13, 2017
The Irish understand good music, so this seems reasonable. 💅
— Jason (@Hurleytennis) May 13, 2017
https://twitter.com/moominHARDCORE/status/863523099437809664
https://twitter.com/tommeh/status/863519046020608000
Don't take it personally, I just had to vote for the Romania yodelling.
— Wesley Dolan. (@WesleyDolan) May 13, 2017
That's the true cost of #brexit 🤷♀️
— Rebecca Hutchinson (@rebeccahutch22) May 13, 2017
What do you think we owe you? We're still 6 counties down.
— Brian Q (@brianbrianquinn) May 13, 2017
https://twitter.com/Deso_66/status/863531082045685760
https://twitter.com/ciaran_3_16/status/863521102227755009
That’s the Eurovision all wrapped up until next year then, when The Rubberbandits could well be stirring things up on Ireland’s behalf.
Can’t wait.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge