Alamy Alamy

PLENTY OF THE stars of The Banshees of Inisherin were in the audience at the Oscars last night, though one made a surprise appearance on stage – or at least, we were led to believe they did.

At one point during the ceremony, host Jimmy Kimmel walked a donkey into the auditorium, introducing her as Jenny, the loyal companion of Colin Farrell’s Banshees character Pádraic.

“This is Jenny, she’s one of the stars of ‘Banshees of Inisherin,’” Kimmel said as he showed her to the crowd, adding: “Jenny, I want you to see there’s your friend Colin right there.” 

However, it turns out the donkey on stage last night was not the real Jenny.

The LA Times and Vulture have reported that a different donkey was used to the on-screen star.

The Times quoted Director Martin McDonagh saying backstage that had used a stand-in and that “it wasn’t Jenny, we never would have allowed that to happen”, while actress Kerry Condon said: “No! All the way from Ireland? Course not!”

The real donkey featured in the film has reportedly retired.

Colin Farrell and fellow Banshees actor Brendan Gleeson previously jokingly described Jenny as the “diva” of the set.

The Banshees of Inisherin received nine nominations at this year’s Oscars, though unfortunately did not come out on top in any category.

Among the wider slew of Irish nominees, An Irish Goodbye took home the award for Best Live-Action Short Film and Dubliner Richard Baneham was among the team to win the Oscar for Best Visual Effects for his work on Avatar: The Way of Water.

President Michael D Higgins said: “May I congratulate An Irish Goodbye and Richard Baneham for their fantastic achievements in winning the Best Live-Action Short Film and Best Visual Effects Awards respectively at last night’s Oscars ceremony.

“May I further extend my congratulations to Colin Farrell, Paul Mescal, Kerry Condon, Brendan Gleeson, Barry Keoghan, Jonathan Redmond and all involved with An Cailin Ciuin and The Banshees Of Inisherin for the exceptional recognition of their work which being nominated for an Academy Award constitutes.

“This has been a remarkable year for the Irish film industry and is a testament to the hard work of so many people over recent decades.”