A 13-year-old schoolboy who became the youngest ever member of the Society of Irish Magicians bowled Britain’s Got Talent judges over with his skills.
Cillian O’Connor, from Mornington, Co Meath, left Simon Cowell speechless on the ITV reality show as millions of viewers watched him perform.
The youngster, who has autism and dyspraxia, became “obsessed” with magic aged 10 after watching Issy Simpson’s performance on BGT.
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Speaking at the time his proud dad Richie explained that he’d gone from struggling to make eye contact or interact socially to performing in front of crowds.
He said: “His confidence and interaction socially have improved dramatically since he started magic.
“He has learned how to interact and communicate in a way he never did before. He would sit in the corner with a book before this and talk to nobody. It has been a godsend.
“Every time we see the HSE care group he performs for them and they are amazed that he can now do an elaborate trick where he wouldn’t have been able to button up his own shirt a couple of years ago.”
In 2019 Cillian was selected to attend the Centre for the Talented Youth of Ireland in DCU, a programme for students aged 6-17 of high academic ability.
He has appeared on RTE Junior and performed at the Fleadh in Drogheda, Co Louth.
Explaining what he loves most about performing, Cillian said: “I enjoy entertaining people. I want to see people happy, the best way to perform a show is to add a bit of laughter in there.
“My favourite tricks to do are anything with cards. I love to see the look of surprise on their faces.”
Cillian is not the first young Irish magician to wow judges on Britain’s Got Talent.
In 2019 Aidan McCann from Maynooth, who was just nine at the time, reached the semi-finals of the show and went on to appear on the Ellen DeGeneres show in the US.
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