Eric Roberts nominated for ‘Best Social Media Star’

Eric Roberts has been nominated for ‘Best Social Media Star’ in The Gossies 2024. 

Eric is in the running against stars like Kayleigh Trappe, James Kavanagh, Tadhg Fleming, Carl Mullan, James Patrice, Peter McGann, Mark Mehigan and Dev Skehan. 

The Gossies 2024 is a Shakespeare themed event that will take place on March 2 in the RDS and it will be hosted by Muireann O’Connell. The votes for the ‘Best Social Media Star’ category are open for voting until February 27.

Eric is a social media influencer from Glen, near Downings. He previously worked as a Special Needs Assistant (SNA) at Mulroy College, Milford for eight years. He left his job to pursue content creation full-time after he began experiencing viral videos on TikTok during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Now, Roberts has one of the highest social media followings in Ireland and is continuing to experience this success. Eric describes his creation style as “a mix of family-friendly and dry comedic satire.” 

He is regarded as ‘Ireland’s Number 1 Male Influencer.’ As of February 2024, Roberts has gained a large following on various social media platforms. TikTok is his main platform having accumulated 632,000 followers and 34 million likes followed by Instagram which has approximately 295,000 followers.

A key aspect of Eric’s content is showcasing Donegal, “I have people from all over the world following me and they love to see content about the lovely scenic areas around the county and I’m so proud of the tourism we offer, we have some of the nicest walks, bars and restaurants in the country.”

Despite leaving his job as an SNA, Roberts also continues to educate about neurodiversity. He was inspired to go into this line of work as his nephew Oisin has cerebral palsy and autism. Roberts is very much involved in Oisin’s life and it is a cause very close to his heart. “Even though I’m leaving the teaching, I’m going to keep on working with children with additional needs.”

Eric has been involved in numerous events over the past year, such as presenting the Fifa Women’s World Cup in Australia with JD Sports, featuring on a BBC podcast ‘Big Comic Energy’ presented by award-winning Irish Comedian Catherine Bohart, starring in Netflix’s Squid Game: The Challenge, featuring on Ireland AM to discuss TikTok trends and recently he completed the Barcelona Half Marathon alongside his friend David McGinley. 

When talking about his success Roberts says: “I wanted to say yes to as many opportunities as I could and see what I enjoyed in the industry. In doing so, I’ve done TV, stand-up and presenting and I’ve fallen in love with all three.”

Eric is signed with Andrea Roche’s agency and has credited his wife Niamh with supporting his career. He continues to pursue content creation and collaborates with various brands across Ireland. You can vote for Eric in the Gossies 2024 here.