Stevie wonderful
Rugby anthem star serenades mum on radio for birthday
A SCHOOLBOY who held his nerve to sing Ireland’s Call in front of 50,000 rugby fans was a man of steel again when he sang happy birthday to his mum on live radio.
Stevie Mulrooney, the eight-year-old singing star from Kilkenny, serenaded the nation on Sunday at the Aviva Stadium before Ireland’s 36-0 win over Italy in the Six Nations.
After garnering praise from Ireland coach Andy Farrell, he went live on RTE yesterday to serenade Karolina in Polish for her 41st birthday.
Stevie said: “Yes, I was a little bit nervous [on Sunday].
“I remember the big crowd. It was scaring the life out of me. I loved it. When I got into the song, I didn’t feel a little bit nervous.”
He then sang happy birthday live on air. Stevie, who plays for Kilkenny RFC U8s, relaxed and guessed he held the last note of the anthem for “20 seconds or something like that”.
He revealed he practiced the tune five times before the big day and “on the day, just once”.
Farrell praised Stevie and said: “His confidence was amazing. I actually thought, ‘I wish our lads are going to be like this’.
“He had his shoulders back, he was ready and was waving to the crowd. I thought, ‘This kid’s got it all’. He was amazing. He nailed it.” Dad Seamus
thanked the music academy where Stevie first had singing lessons. He also praised Jennifer Dalton, who sang the national anthems and “kept Stevie calm on the day”.
Seamus joked Karolina is a great singer in the shower and also name-checked his father who was a musician.
He added: “It doesn’t come from me anyway, that’s for sure. His mam can sing.
She chooses not to, but I have heard her sing in the shower and she’s a lot better than I am.
“We have a wee bit of music background from my dad who is into traditional music and used to play the button accordion. So maybe it skipped a generation and Stevie has got it.”
Stevie listed his favourite players as Peter O’mahony and Bundee Aki, who he met on The Late Late Show’s special Toy Show edition last year.
He sang Ireland’s Call on the show and said it would be a “dream come true” to sing the rugby anthem at the Aviva – which happened on Sunday in front of an official attendance of 51,700 fans.
Stevie said yesterday: “It was great to meet them and the match was great. They played great. Italy are a good team but Ireland beat
them and fair play to them.”