The BBC has issued an apology and correction after wrongly labelling Paul Mescal British following his Oscar nomination this week.

From Maynooth, Co Kildare, Mescal has been nominated for Best Actor for his role in Aftersun, one of a record 14 Irish nominations for Ireland at the 2023 Oscars. 

The BBC wrote in a bulletin: “2023 Oscar nominations: British actors Paul Mescal and Bill Nighy are nominated for leading role”. 

The British broadcater’s apology said: “In text running across the screen we reported that Paul Mescal was one of two British actors who had been nominated for an Oscar for a leading role.

"The text should have said that Paul Mescal is Irish. We apologise for the mistake.”

The 26-year-old is now considered the wild card in the 2023 Oscar race for Best Actor.

Announced on January 24, Mescal’s younger sister, Nell Mescal shared their family’s reaction to the news on Twitter, with the Tweet gaining more than 40,000 likes. 

Additional Irish nominations include 10 for the Banshees of Inisherin and nominations for An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl), a film that has put the Irish language on the global stage. 

Similar to The Golden Globes, Brendan Gleeson, Colin Farrell, Barry Keoghan and Kerry Cordon have all been nominated for their roles in The Banshees of Inisherin. 

Mescal is set to go up against fellow Irish actor, Colin Farrell for Best Actor at the Oscars.

Martin McDonagh, director of Banshees, is up for two Oscars for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.