Irish entry all set for Eurovision

Irish Eurovision fans will be glued to the screens tonight to watch Mickey Joe Harte perform in the 48th Eurovision Song Contest…

Irish Eurovision fans will be glued to the screens tonight to watch Mickey Joe Harte perform in the 48th Eurovision Song Contest in Latvia.

Harte (29) will sing We've got the World to try and bring home what would be Eurovision win number eight for Ireland.

The winner of RTE's You're A Star programme is probably the most high-profile singer to travel to the Eurovision to represent Ireland, given the numbers who viewed the television series.

He will be attempting to make up for the disappointment in 2001 when Ireland suffered its first relegation from the song contest.

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Singing a song written by Keith Molloy and Martin Brannigan, who have written songs for B*Witched and Boyzone, Harte will have the support of hundreds of people from his home town of Lifford, Co Donegal, who flew out to Latvia yesterday on specially chartered flights from Dublin and Derry.

A spokesperson for Driftaway travel said: "They were singing and dancing in the airport since 7 o'clock this morning."

The Mickey Harte mania began when Ireland decided to vamp up its Eurovision selection process by creating You're A Star where Mickey topped the phone- in polls weekly and won the competition with 1.3 million votes.

Feedback on the song has been positive, although some have commented on its similarity to Fly On The Wings of Love.

Harte formed his first band at the age of 15 and launched his solo career at 25, travelling through Europe and the US where he met his current manager.

He is number one at the moment in the Irish singles charts. Tonight he'll take on Europe and might not get the world - but it could be Eurovision win number eight.

Ireland has come second on four occasions.