Foróige Releases

12-year-old Michael Slevin has beaten off stiff competition from across Ireland to secure 2nd place at 'Foróige's Got Talent 2012.'

In total 34 top acts battled it out on stage at the new state-of-the-art Phibblestown Community Campus in West Dublin on Saturday night (June 9th) in front of a huge audience.

Foróige is Ireland's largest youth organisation with almost 60,000 members aged 12 to 18. The competition was open to all members involved with the charity's clubs, youth cafés, programmes and projects.

Michael represented St. Joseph's Foróige Club in Streamstown, County Westmeath. His performance of the 1994 classic 'An Angel', made famous by The Kelly Family, wowed the huge crowd.

Reacting to the achievement of securing 2nd place, Michael said: 

"I feel great after this, it's brilliant! I was a bit nervous at the start but when I began getting up to the high notes I started to feel better. I'd like to thank all my friends in Foróige and all the leaders (volunteers). My voice teacher gave me great advice and he helped me to come second."

The winner's names have already been inscribed on a perpetual trophy. In addition, the group members each take away their own trophies which will serve as permanent mementos of their achievement.

It was only the second year of 'Foróige's Got Talent' and yet the competition can already be described as a huge success. Last year there were 22 entries compared to 34 this year and the audience on Saturday had noticeably grown. Again this year there was plenty of variety on stage showcasing all sorts of talents including, singing, dancing, drama and comedy.

There could only be one overall winner, however, and the three judges on the night adjudicated that Whitechurch Foróige Club in Cork deserved the title with their performance of a short play called 'False Truths'.

Reacting to the win lead actor Ciara Lenihan said:

"I was lost for words. I couldn't believe it. We really didn't expect to win. The play is about not pre-judging people. It's easy to immediately make a decision about someone but you might not know what is really going on their lives behind the scenes. I'd like to thank my mom Carmel for writing and directing the play. The other actors were great and I'd also like to thank Catherine and Ambrose who volunteer at our club every week."

Among those in the crowd was Paul Maher, Chairperson of the Foróige National Council;

"This competition proves one thing beyond any doubt - Foróige really has got talent! The effort that was put in by the young people was unbelievable and there wasn't one boring moment. The 34 acts came from every part of Ireland. It was tough for the judges because the performances were so varied. Next year we'll have to split the competition up into categories to make it a little fairer and easier to judge. Congratulations to every one of the 34 acts."

Separately, the Sean-nós Dancers from St. Joseph's Foróige Club in Streamstown, County Westmeath also performed on the night.

For further information please contact: 

Jerome Hughes, Foróige Media Officer

086 197 4392