THE UK suffered fresh Eurovision humiliation in Rotterdam - and the Irish loved every second of it.
James Newman endured the double ignominy of finishing bottom and scoring the dreaded "nil points" for his upbeat entry Embers.
Maybe it was because of Brexit or perhaps the row over the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.
Then again, it might just have been down to the fact Newman's song wasn't very good.
Whatever the reason, the UK was left bottom of the pile and, for the many Irish watching along at home, that was a source of some mirth.
Arguably the quip of the night came on social media where Irish fans described the UK Eurovision act as "being as popular as Brexit."
Ireland had already seen its own chances go up in smoke in the semi-finals, following a performance beset by technical issues.
No country has won Eurovision more than the Republic but it is now 25 years since they last tasted success in the competition.
To make matters worse, even the UK have won it more recently, having triumphed on Irish soil back in 1997 with Katrina and the Waves.
Alas, there would be no repeat in the Netherlands - something Irish fans definitely took some solace and amusement from.
Some pinpointed Amanda Holden's efforts as the UK judge as a contributing factor behind their terrible score with the reality TV judge failing to impress viewers with her failure to distinguish the difference between French and Dutch:
The UK: Why did we get zero points??
Also the UK: pic.twitter.com/FKKS76svj4— loveofhuns x (@loveofhuns) May 23, 2021
She did, no question, but sought to dismiss both languages as insignificant and not deserving of respect.
— Ciaran Cannon (@ciarancannon) May 23, 2021
She even drew unfavourable comparisons with Boris Johnson. Ouch.
Others saw the result as a massive middle finger to the UK:
On behalf of James Newman and the UK 0#Eurovision2021 #eurovision #unitedkingdom pic.twitter.com/MeAHKLz3ez
— Niki (@Nikmomo) May 22, 2021
There were those who hoped the result would give the UK pause for thought:
#Eurovision2021
UK 0
UK; pic.twitter.com/jBecaf2R6j— Liam 🍀🌹 (@liam86uk) May 22, 2021
Some wondered aloud whether the last few years of "Rule Britannia" and "f*** the EU" had possibly played a part:
UK for the past 5 years: "Fuck Europe, fuck the EU, fuck Brussels, fuck immigrants, fuck the Good Friday Agreement, fuck European trade, we won WW2, Britannia rules the waves, we don't need you, fuck you."#EUROVISION : UK 0 points.
UK: pic.twitter.com/zgP9n1om4g— Macca IV (@MaccaTheFourth) May 23, 2021
Then there were those who simply found the whole thing very funny:
The Irish watching the UK get 0 points #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/P4WPl63nMv
— Millie 🦋 (@milliejo_xx) May 22, 2021
In fact, lots of people found it very, very funny:
The Irish republican in me seeing the UK down the bottom with 0 points pic.twitter.com/P6FZKmkAoz
— CM (@conormurrayTM) May 22, 2021
The UK finished last in the Eurovision Song Contest for the second consecutive time, finishing with 0 points pic.twitter.com/y0eV2jpeTB
— Irish Republican 🇮🇪⭕️ (@Republi63207812) May 23, 2021
Just a friendly reminder that the uk got 0 points in Eurovision 😂😂😂
— irishr9 🇮🇪🇵🇸🇺🇦 (@R9Irish) May 23, 2021
And there was definitely a sense of national pride among a few that the Irish judges had played a role in the whole thing:
The Irish jury discussing whether to give any points to the UK #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/5ONqfwOWvq
— Declan Cashin (@Tweet_Dec) May 22, 2021
Piers Morgan, meanwhile, was his usual cheery self:
The UK didn't get 'nul points' in the Eurovision Song Contest because of some sinister revenge for Brexit.
We got 'nul points' because we had a crap song, performed by a crap singer who gave a crap performance. End. pic.twitter.com/jN875OQrWp— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) May 23, 2021
