Grace's Late Late delight
Rosemount teenager Grace Kelly, a member of Rosemount Foróige Club which picked up the Ireland’s Top Teens title at the Foróige Youth Citizenship Awards last year, is delighted this week after appearing on last Friday night’s Late Late Show.
Grace was initially approached by Foróige head office on Tuesday of last week to find out if she would be interested in being a member of a panel of five teenagers who would discuss a variety of topics on last Friday’s show, during a week when RTÉ handed over the running of many TV and radio shows to teenagers.
Having always had an interest in TV, Grace jumped at the chance and after completing a phone interview with a researcher from the show, she was informed on Wednesday morning that she would be appearing on Friday night’s show.
“I wasn’t very nervous. I’m quite clear in my views on things so I was confident in what I was going to say,” said Grace.
She added that Late Late host Ryan Tubridy was great at relaxing the guests and when she was in hair and make-up before the show he was chatting away to them. Grace added that several times during the slot she forgot that it was going out live on TV as it simply felt like they were all having a chat.
Grace (17) said she felt the panel gave a good representation of teenagers as there were people from towns, cities and the countryside, who all had different experiences and opinions and she thought they were given ample opportunity to express their views.
The daughter or Dorothy and James, Grace is a student at Moate Community School and explained that this year Rosemount Foróige Club is continuing to work on its Farmóige project (a farm safety initiative) and is looking for funding from businesses in a bid to roll out the initiative nationwide in the coming months. Her younger brother Paul is also a member of the Foróige club.
Grace praised the leaders at Rosemount Foróige Club, saying they were hugely supportive of the project and were always on hand if the club members needed a lift to a school or community group to discuss their project. She said it wouldn’t have been such a success without their help.
She said her experience with the youth citizenship project had given her great confidence and she had found it to be a worthwhile experience that she would recommend for any youth club, not just Foróige clubs.
“I wouldn’t have been as at ease on camera if it wasn’t for the experiences I got with the citizenship project. I would definitely recommend it,” said Grace.
She would also recommend appearing on the Late Late to anyone who is given the opportunity to do so and said it was great to get teenagers’ views on issues that affect them and perhaps more shows will follow suit now.
For Grace it was also a great experience as she has always had an interest in television and said presenting has always been a dream of hers. Now, after last Friday’s appearance on the Late Late, it’s no longer just presenting that Grace has an interest in as she said she would also like to explore the production element of television.