Co Down schoolgirl Sophie Lennon to represent Ireland at Junior Eurovision song contest

Sophie Lennon, 13, from Mayobridge, will fly the flag for Ireland in Yerevan going up against young singers from 15 other countries including Freya Skye who is representing the UK.

Speaking to BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme from Armenia, Sophie said: "I've been looking forward to it for the longest time.

"It's just a dream come true. It's a massive deal."

While Sophie didn't want to give too much away about the theatrical side of her performance, she said: "It is going to be magical."

The song she will be singing is in Irish and called Solas.

"It means light and it's all about mental health," she said.

"Everybody has a light inside of them, it's like finding the light at the end of the tunnel.

"It's always there, but it's just hard to find sometimes."

Earlier this year Sophie won BBC School Soloist of the Year 2022 and she has previously performed in Shrek the Musical in Belfast.

And two years ago she performed on RTE's The Late Late Toy Show.

Sophie is also a registered young carer for her older brother Conor.

She said: "It means I help him with all his necessities – I feed him, I dress him, I keep an eye on him really, to make sure he doesn't do anything dangerous really.”

Junior Eurovision will be shown on BBC One, CBBC and TG4 on Sunday.