I hope so too Janette, but I fear all the fame Academy ex-students are going to find it quite tough out there, except perhaps for David, who does appeal to a wider audience and of course, was the winner. He will probably find it easiest, I think. I do agree about Sinead, in fact I think the talent amongst the last few in FA was exceptional. I want them to succeed and be able to build proper careers but I doubt that the media is going to allow this to happen. If they continually put them down as second-rate because they've come to prominence by a different route the public will believe the adverse publicity, I fear.
As far as the Irish charts are concerned, apparently new entries always chart lower in the Irish charts. Also, Sinead is from N. ireland. I don't think FA was shown on TV in Southern Ireland.