Julie Feeney stars in Match of The Day

The programme played ‘You Bring Me Down’, from Julie’s acclaimed 13 Songs album, to accompany a piece on teams that had been relegated from the premiership. The programme has a huge viewership, among them, inevitably, many people in the music industry – and the piece, which strikes an emotional chord appropriate to what is often a heartbreaking moment for hundreds of thousands of English football fans, will undoubtedly have made a big impression on them.

“It was unreal,” an understandably excited Feeney told Hot Press. “It was with a collage at the end on relegation teams. 47 seconds, two choruses and a verse. Pretty mad.”

This latest coup is a reflection of the increasing respect with which the Tuam-born solo artist is being greeted internationally as well as at home. Her album, which was hailed by Jackie Hayden in Hot Press on its release, has already won the inaugural Choice award in Ireland and – while it has yet to be officially released in the UK – it has clearly found its way into influential hands.

Bearing that in mind, the next few months should prove to be very interesting indeed for the Ms.Feeney.