DONATIONS MADE through the charity appeal for Friday night's Late Late Toy Show have reached €6.6m, according to host Ryan Tubridy.
Speaking on his radio show on RTÉ Radio 1 on Monday morning, he also explained how the co-founder of Revolut personally donated €1.1m to the cause after users of the app who wanted to donate on the night experienced technical difficulties.
"The app melted down as people were being so decent and the guy who owns it - Vlad Yatsenko - got wind of this and said 'I’ll give you €100k out of my own pocket' by way of apology," Tubridy said.
"Then he got so into the vibe and the magic of the night, last night he donated €1.1 million to add to the Irish people’s generosity, which brings it to at least €6.6 million so far and counting from the people of Ireland with the help of Vlad along the way which will go towards children’s charities around the country.
Thank you all for the outpouring of support and donations to the #LateLateToyShow2021 charity appeal via @RevolutApp @RTELateLateShow pic.twitter.com/Cl3rxVlTFS
— Vlad Yatsenko ☮️ 🇺🇦 (@vyatsenko) November 29, 2021
"This will spread the magic of the Toy Show every day of every month of every year across the country."
Ryan said that children will be going to school with hot meals, and their school libraries will have books as a result of the donations.
"Domestic violence supports, autism assistance, Barnardos, Music Generation, mental health supports - this is life-changing for the next generation," he continued.
"I just wanted to say go raibh míle maith agaibh for being so generous in a pretty dark time when people are a bit afraid.
"We’re bowled over, the team and myself, here comes Christmas," he concluded.
