Meet the Laois child chosen for Late Late Toy Show County Parade

The whole of Ireland and beyond is excited for the RTÉ Late Late Toy Show this Friday night, especially one little boy from Laois.

Mason Omoregie, aged 8 from Mountrath is the lucky Laois child chosen for a new feature this year, the first ever Late Late Toy Show County Parade of 32 children who have shown true county pride.

Mason is in 2nd class at Castletown Primary School, where his classmates and teacher Mr McGrath are all excited to see him on the television.

He hurls with Castletown GAA club, trained by Laois hurler Jordan Walsh and he plays soccer and basketball too.

With the help of his mam and dad Siobhan and Oghogho, Mason had made a video application to RTÉ to be in the parade, describing his love of his county, and was thrilled to be chosen.

He has already been up in RTÉ Studios twice for rehearsals with all the other county representatives. 

He spoke to the Leinster Express  / Laois Live a day before Toy Show Day.

"I watch the toy show every year and really wanted to go. I know everyone there now after rehearsals. I'm feeling confident. I hope everyone will watch me on TV and cheer on the county," he said.

Mason whose favourite toys are his Marvel Black Panther figurines, is waiting to send his letter to Santa until after the show, just in case he changes his mind.

Siobhán who is from Rathdowney, and Oghogho who is from Nigeria, are "over the moon" for him.

Mason is the middle child of their five children, but there's no overlooking his bubbly personality, his mam said.

"It took ages to make the video application, he is very chatty so they were all too long. He's really bubbly and funny. He loves to play, loves artwork, he makes cards for everyone. He loves being out hurling. He taught himself to ride a bike last summer, he even took off his own stabilisers," Siobhan said.

His parents will accompany him to the RTÉ studios for the long day's filming, while his siblings will head to their nanny's in Rathdowney to watch the show on television. Then on Sunday they will all watch the replay together, with some special treats.

"They will have their toy show treat bags from Castletown NS. Every year the 5th and 6th class make up bags with their own money, and then donate the proceeds to a local charity," Siobhan said.

The Late Late Toy Show will air on Friday, 6 December, at 9:35 pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player. Irish Sign Language (ISL) will be available live on RTÉ News Channel and RTÉ PlayerLive and on demand from anywhere in the world at rte.ie/player. The show will be repeated on RTÉ One on Sunday, 8 December, with Audio Description at 3:05pm.