Organised chaos reigned at the City of Derry Airport yesterday when 170 relatives and friends of Ireland's Eurovision song contestant Mickey Joe Harte flew out to the Latvian capital of Riga for tonight's contest. Some 100 million viewers are expected to watch the event, writes George Jackson in Derry.
The Harte clan, led by Mickey Joe's mother Finola, wife Louise and children Kayleigh (11) and Kyle (8), arrived at the airport just before 7 a.m. yesterday for the chartered flight to Riga.
Uncles, aunts, and cousins and friends gathered in the departure lounge two hours before take-off, which was delayed by almost two hours.
"We didn't mind the delay too much because it gave everybody time to go around and speak to everybody," said Ms Finola Harte. "There was so much talking and fun that the time went like that, although some of the younger children were bewildered and bemused at the sight of some of the costumes some of the adults were wearing."
Ms Louise Harte said neither she nor their two children had slept much in the last few days. "Mickey Joe went out earlier this week, and we've been talking to him on the phone several times a day. The tension is starting to get to all of us as we get nearer to the contest itself.
"There's a great atmosphere and buzz in our home town of Lifford, and so many people wanted to come with us to Latvia that we could have filled many more planes.
"The phone never stopped at home, with people ringing asking me to pass on their good wishes to Mickey Joe when he sings his song We've Got The World.
"What ever way it goes, it'll be a tired bunch arriving back here on Monday night, but we intend to enjoy the experience because it's a once in a lifetime thing."
Among the well-wishers who met the Harte family and friends at the airport yesterday was the Deputy Mayor of Derry, Ulster Unionist councillor Ms Mary Hamilton.
"As a Lifford-born woman myself, I'm delighted to be here. It's a great day for the north-west and I'll be watching the contest on television and hoping that when Mickey Joe comes back, he'll come back a winner," she said.