Inishowen's Dallán and Charles 'very excited' ahead of Late Late Toy Show appearances

Buncrana 11-year-old Dallán Woods will be showing off his incredible musical talent with a bodhrán performance on the show.

And, Charles Gallagher, who lives in Castlefin but has strong connections to Burnfoot through his mother, Orla, (nee McLaughlin) will also appear on the show.

Speaking to the Journal, the boys’ mothers said their sons were both over the moon when they found out they had been chosen to appear.

Dallán’s mum, Liz Doherty, told how she sent in a video audition of Dallan to the show after they put out a call around September. He was then selected for an in-person audition in Dublin and later got the exciting call to say he’d ‘made the cut’.

The Scoil Iosagain pupil has been rehearsing hard and his performance, which will be in a group, is top secret. So top secret in fact that even mum Liz and his dad, Jim Woods, haven’t seen it.

"It won’t just be a surprise for the viewers, it will be a surprise for us too,” laughed Liz.

Dallán is ‘very excited,’ as are his friends and classmates, who will all be tuning in on Friday night. Also glued to their TV will be all the students of Scoil Trad Bhun Cranncha, which is run by Liz and Jim and is also attended by Dallán.

It has been a busy year for Dallán, who also landed a big part in the new film ‘Trad,’ which will be released next year.

Charles Gallagher’s mother, Orla, said her son, who is six and a half, said he will be representing both Castlefin and Burnfoot – where she’s from – when he appears on the show.

Young Charles is no stranger to the limelight, as he recently won second prize in the six years and younger category in the Texaco Children’s Art Competition, alongside his brother, Neal, who won third prize in the same age category.

Orla, like Liz, applied online to the show and Charles was called for an in-person audition. Out of 4,000 auditionees, 80 were interviewed and then a smaller number were chosen to appear on the show on Friday.

Orla told how, following Charles’ audition, she hadn’t heard from the show in a while and thought he hadn’t got through.

“We were both in car one day and I got a call. It was one of the researchers from the show and she asked if Charles was with me. I said he was but that it was ok, as he understood that so many kids had auditioned and that he loved the experience anyway. She said that wasn’t why she was ringing, that she was doing so to say he had been selected. He was just over the moon and couldn’t wait to tell all his friends.”

Charles, a pupil at St. Mary’s National School, Castlefin, and Zara Holmes School of Speech and Drama, is preparing hard for his appearance with the help of his teachers and family, before rehearsals on Friday.

You can watch both boys when The Late Late Toy Show airs on Friday at 9:35pm on RTÉ One & RTÉ Player.