Cavan girls dancing for joy on the Late Late Toy Show

Cavan will be well represented on this year’s Late Late Toy Show as two girls are set to show off their dance moves - one in a group performance and the other in the county parade.

First up, 12-year-old Mya Connolly is set to pop and lock the Toy Show stage on Friday evening with her insane hip-hop talent.

Performing with her six other group members, the sixth class Castletara NS student is “really excited” to showcase her talent.

Mya is slightly shy when she speaks about her dancing capabilities despite the shelf filled with trophies in her Cavan town bedroom for both group and solo performances. The group name is ‘2 Nasty’, which doesn’t seem to fit this sweet, friendly girl at all.

It’s only when she gets up from the kitchen table and shows the Celt a freestyle hip-hop routine that her fierce confidence, positive attitude, and talent shines bright. Mya has been dancing since she was six in various academies across the country, having settled with Fit Kids Fit Teens (FKFT) in Dublin, where she travels twice weekly to practice.

Auditions for the Toy Show took place in October, where 2 Nasty performed in from of a panel of seven judges, but this didn’t phase the Cavan dancer. They performed their crew dance; a high energy mixture of popping, locking, krumping and afro.

“They said very good and we left,” Mya says of the feedback from the judges.

Fast forward to Halloween night, Mya was out trick or treating with friends when her mam Sue got the call to say she had been accepted to perform on the live show.

Mya has watched the toy show every year for as long as she can remember, so to perform on this stage means a lot to her.

“We are so excited,” she says, almost jumping out of the kitchen chair in anticipation for Friday.

Rehearsals have been ongoing since, with the final in-studio practice taking place tomorrow (Thursday) morning at 9am. The group will bring the very best to the stage, having placed first at their recent All-Ireland competition in Tralee, meanwhile Mya placed 6th performing in an adult category.

“I really like it [dancing],” Mya tells the Celt. She wants to be a dance teacher and eventually open her very own dance school.

Meanwhile her brother Harley, mum Sue and dad Gary are “beaming” for Mya’s big night.

“This will be such a lovely experience, they’ve had a very fruitful year. This year has been the busiest of the six years she has been dancing so this is where they have really excelled. Even with each other, it’s all about teamwork.

“They’ve really gelled this year and that’s obviously showed.”

Excitement for Ira

Irena Mereacre (9), a pupil at Milltown NS, meanwhile, will represent the Breffni county in this year’s Late Late Toy Show county parade. Ira, as her friends and family call her, is an Irish dancer who also loves sushi and Sanrio characters.

The busy girl lives between Killeshandra and Milltown with her mum, Nell; Dad, Alex; and older sister, Evey.

She may be the luckiest girl in Cavan right now but, for Ira, 2025 has been a year of ups and downs, which also involved a house move. Last Spring, her mum was diagnosed with breast cancer. Then the rush was on to get moved in to their old partially-renovated cottage, which still needed a lot more work.

Around the time of Nell’s diagnosis, the family were put in touch with Cuan Cavan Cancer Support Centre. Cuan provides support for everyone in a family affected by a cancer diagnosis. As Nell went on her cancer journey, Cuan became somewhere for Ira to hang out with children in a similar situation, go on “amazing” trips, and take part in activities like puppet-making. It was also somewhere she could talk to someone if needed.

“Cuan lifted our spirits. A lot,” Nell says looking back over the past year.

When asked if she likes going to Cuan Ira didn’t hesitate. “It’s the best place ever!” she shouted happily.

It was Cuan who sent Nell an email with the application form to be a guest on this year’s Toy Show. “I forgot all about it because we had so much on our plate at the time,” Nell said, “Coincidentally though I remembered about it last thing on the night of the deadline and I thought we’d give it a go, so Ira and Evey ended up having a late night that night making a video to send to RTÉ.”

For her video, Ira decided to show viewers around her dolls’ house, showing off the various rooms, furniture, and characters. Then she showed her paper puppets and talked about things she likes in general.

From the video the Celt saw, it’s easy to see why producers would be impressed by the little chatterbox who was more than comfortable talking to camera about things she’s interested in.

She was invited to audition to be a Toy Show presenter but RTÉ staff advised Nell to manage expectations. When the call came, Nell was “strapped up for chemo” in Bon Secours Hospital. Unfortunately, Ira had not been picked to be a toy presenter in this year’s show, she was told. “The whole time I was trying not to be disappointed, but after that phonecall, I realised I was disappointed,” Nell admits.

“We were told that RTÉ received about 4,500 applications and we got down to the last 80, which was good.”

About half an hour later, as a disappointed Nell made her way across the hospital car park to head home, RTÉ called again to say that Ira had been chosen to represent Cavan in the county parade, doing Irish dancing.

“She hadn’t actually auditioned for that but had put Irish dancing down as one of her hobbies,” Nell explained. When she went for a rehearsal, Ira brought her own outfit, which included a sparkly top.

Now, this Friday, as the rest of us settle in for the night to watch the Late Late Toy Show 2025, Ira and her proud mum will be getting ready behind-the scenes or waiting in the Green Room of the famous RTÉ studio before taking part in the most exciting night of TV in any Irish child’s life.

As the Celt left Ira, the discussion had turned to how she could incorporate the Cavan colours into her outfit, and at the time of writing it’s expected the Irish dancer will wear blue and white ribbons in her hair as her nod to the Breffni County.