| Ireland | |
|---|---|
| Member station | RTÉ |
| National selection events | National Song Contest Eurosong (-2001, 2008) You're a Star (2003-2005) The Late Late Show (2006-2007, 2009-2012) |
| Appearances | |
| Appearances | 45 |
| First appearance | 1965 |
| Best result | 1st: 1970, 1980, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996 |
| Worst result | Last: 2007 |
| External links | |
| RTÉ website | |
| Ireland's page at Eurovision.tv | |
Ireland first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest at the 1965 Contest in Naples, participating in every subsequent Contest but two: the 1983 Contest in Munich and the 2002 Contest in Tallinn. Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) is Ireland's representative broadcaster at the Contest, and broadcasts the Contest annually; the semi-final is broadcast on RTÉ Two and the final on RTÉ One.[1] All but one of the country's entries have been in English; the exception is "Ceol an Ghrá", Ireland's entry in 1972, which was sung in Irish.
On seven occasions the Contest has been staged in Ireland, all but one of these in the capital Dublin, when the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest was held in Millstreet, a town with a population of 1,500 people in west County Cork,[2] following Linda Martin's win in 1992.
Ireland won the Contest for the first time in 1970 with Dana performing "All Kinds of Everything". In total, Ireland has won the Contest seven times, more than any other country, including an unprecedented three consecutive victories in the 1990s (1992, 1993 and 1994 - the most consecutive wins accumulated by a country to date). The decade also saw yet another victory in 1996 and two second place finishes (in 1990 and 1997), which gives Ireland the best overall performance by any country in the history of the Contest.
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Ireland has competed in the Contest almost continuously since the country's debut in 1965 (absent in 1983 and 2002). In 1983 a strike at the country's national broadcaster RTÉ meant that the broadcaster lacked the resources to send a participant so RTÉ broadcast the Contest with commentary from the BBC. In 2002 Ireland were relegated from the Contest for one year; despite this RTÉ broadcast the Contest and sent a commentator (the rules in use at the time meant that a country who wanted to take part had to show the previous year's Contest). Reformed RTÉ presenter Marty Whelan has been the national commentator since the 2000 Contest.[3]
Ireland has sent 45 entries to the Eurovision Song Contest; of these seven have won and eighteen have finished in the top five. Ireland has been relegated once: in 2001 Gary O'Shaughnessy finished twenty-first with "Without Your Love," which meant Ireland was forced to sit out of the 2002 contest. In addition, six Irish entries have featured in the semi-final of the Contest. In 2005, Donna & Joe finished fourteenth in the pre-qualifier, failing to qualify for the final. In 2006, Brian Kennedy finished ninth in the semifinal, ensuring an Irish presence in the Athens final. Kennedy finished tenth in the final. Ireland also featured in the first semi-final in 2008 and in the second semi-final in 2009, however the representatives failed to qualify for the final in both.
Ireland's recent results in the Contest have been poor in comparison to the 1990s. At the Contest in 2007, Ireland's representatives were traditional Irish music group Dervish performing "They Can't Stop The Spring". The group, having automatically qualified for the final, finished last with five points, all from Albania. In 2008, Dustin the Turkey failed to qualify for the final with his song "Irelande Douze Pointe", losing out in the semi-final on May 20. The same fate befell Sinéad Mulvey and Black Daisy in the 2009 semi-final on May 14.[4] In 2011 however, Ireland's luck changed as they sent X Factor finalists Jedward. The duo finished in eight place, with 119 points, thus making them Ireland's most successful entry in 11 years. Their single Lipstick topped the iTunes charts in Austria, Germany, Ireland and Sweden.
Six singers have represented Ireland more than once at the Contest: Johnny Logan (1980, 1987), Linda Martin (1984, 1992), Niamh Kavanagh (1993, 2010), Tommy and Jimmy Swarbrigg (as "The Swarbriggs" in 1975 and part of "The Swarbriggs Plus Two" in 1977), and Maxi (as a soloist in 1973 and as part of Sheeba in 1981). Eight people have written and composed more than one Irish entry: Brendan Graham (1976, 1985, 1994, 1996), Johnny Logan (1984, 1987, 1992), Tommy and Jimmy Swarbrigg (1975, 1977), Liam Reilly (1990, 1991), Joe Burkett (composer 1972, lyricist 1981), and Niall Mooney & Jonas Gladnikoff (2009, 2010).[5]
Almost all of Ireland's Eurovision entries prior to 1998 were conducted by Noel Kelehan. The exceptions were 1965 (Gianni Ferrio), 1970 (Dolf van der Linden), from 1972 to 1975 (Colman Pearce), 1979 (Proinnsias O'Duinn), 1994 (no conductor, although Kelehan conducted other entries) and 1997 (Frank McNamara).
Ireland has also indulged in the process of writing songs for other countries; Ronan Keating (who also presented the 1997 contest) wrote the 2009 entry for Denmark.[6]
Ireland holds the record for the most number wins (7 wins including 3 consecutive wins)
Ireland is one of the few countries to have achieved consecutive wins (along with Spain, Luxembourg and Israel) and the only country to win consecutively 3 times, and winning a year later in 1996. Since Fionnuala Sherry, one of the integrans of Secret Garden is also Irish, Ireland holds the record of artists of Irish nationality being part of a winning act five consecutive years.
Ireland ranks fourth in cumulative points with 18 top 5 placings.
Ireland is the only country to host the Contest consecutively and is one of the 8 countries never to turn down the chance to host the Eurovision Song Contest.
Out of 45 appearances, Ireland has placed outside the top ten only 11 times (counting only the Finals).
Ireland holds the record for most points from one country in a year in the 1 point per juror voting system achieving 9/10 from Belgium.
Ireland in its history has not gotten 12 or 10 points 8 times in a contest since the voting system was introduced in 1975.
Ireland has an average of 74 points per contest, the highest average 2 points above the United Kingdom.
Ireland benefits from "neighbourly" voting from the United Kingdom. Before the introduction of televoting Irish juries tended to award the United Kingdom more or less the same number of points as other countries did. Since the advent of televoting both countries have given above average points to each other; usually 8 points. In recent years Ireland has also voted for countries where a large diaspora live in Ireland, such as Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. In 2008 Ireland gave 8 points to the UK, 10 to Poland and 12 to Latvia.
Statistically, Ireland is the fourteenth-best country at predicting a winner, giving an average of 8.41 points to the winning country every year over its 25 appearances since the current voting methods were implemented. Only twice (Turkey in 2003 and Azerbaijan in 2011) did Ireland fail to give any votes to the winning country.[7]
Ireland has given the most points to...
| Rank | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 172 |
| 2 | France | 123 |
| 3 | Germany | 117 |
| = | Norway | 117 |
| = | Sweden | 117 |
| 4 | Denmark | 113 |
| 5 | Netherlands | 83 |
Ireland has received the most points from...
| Rank | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 206 |
| 2 | Sweden | 195 |
| 3 | Switzerland | 156 |
| 4 | Norway | 151 |
| 5 | Austria | 146 |
NOTE: The totals in the above tables include only points awarded in Eurovision finals, and not the semi-finals since 2004.
Ireland is the only country to have hosted multiple Contests in succession; three in a row between 1993 and 1995. Six of the seven Contests held in Ireland have been held in Dublin; three at the Point Depot, two at the RDS and one at the Gaiety Theatre. In addition, the 1993 Contest was held in Millstreet, County Cork. During the 1994 contest, the dancing group Riverdance made their debut as an interval act.
| Year | City | Venue | Presenter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Dublin | Gaiety Theatre | Bernadette Ní Ghallchóir |
| 1981 | Dublin | RDS Simmonscourt | Doireann Ní Bhriain |
| 1988 | Dublin | RDS Simmonscourt | Michelle Rocca and Pat Kenny |
| 1993 | Millstreet | Green Glens Arena | Fionnuala Sweeney |
| 1994 | Dublin | Point Depot | Cynthia Ní Mhurchú and Gerry Ryan |
| 1995 | Dublin | Point Depot | Mary Kennedy |
| 1997 | Dublin | Point Depot | Carrie Crowley and Ronan Keating |
Over the years RTÉ commentary has been provided by several experienced radio and television presenters, including Larry Gogan, Jimmy Greeley, Gay Byrne, Ronan Collins, Gerry Ryan, Pat Kenny and Mike Murphy, however Marty Whelan has provided the RTÉ Television commentary since 2000 although Whelan himself provided the 1987 TV commentary and the 1988 Radio commentary. Ireland didn't participate in the 1983 edition in Germany, nor did they send a commentator to Munich that year, but instead broadcasted the BBC feed of the contest with Terry Wogan as commentator.
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