Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977

Eurovision Song Contest 1977
Country	Ireland
National selection
Selection process	National Final
Selection date(s)	20 February 1977
Selected entrant	The Swarbriggs Plus Two
Selected song	"It's Nice to Be in Love Again"
Finals performance
Final result	3rd, 119 points
Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1976 • 1977 • 1978►

Ireland was represented by The Swarbriggs Plus Two, with the song '"It's Nice to Be in Love Again", at the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 7 May in London. "It's Nice to Be in Love Again" was chosen as the Irish entry at the national final on 20 February.

Jimmy and Tommy Swarbrigg had previously represented Ireland in 1975, and were joined on this occasion by Alma Carroll and Nicola Kerr.

Final

The final was held at the studios of broadcaster RTÉ in Dublin, hosted by Mike Murphy. Eight songs took part, with the winner chosen by voting from ten regional juries. Other participants included past and future Irish representatives Dickie Rock (1966) and Colm C. T. Wilkinson (1978), while future Eurovision winner Linda Martin performed as a member of the group Chips.^[1]

At Eurovision

On the night of the final the group performed first in the running order, preceding Monaco. Pre-contest betting rated Ireland as one of the front runners, along with the entries from Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. At the close of voting "It's Nice to Be in Love Again" had picked up 119 points, placing Ireland third of the 18 entries, the country's best placement since Dana's victory seven years earlier. The song had gained four maximum 12s – from Israel, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom – with only Finland failing to award it any points at all. It was therefore somewhat ironic that the Irish jury awarded its 12 points to Finland.^[2]

See also

• Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest
• Eurovision Song Contest 1977

References

Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest   Participation 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016   Artists 1960s 1960 to 1964 Butch Moore Dickie Rock Sean Dunphy Pat McGeegan Muriel Day 1970s Dana Angela Farrell Sandie Jones Maxi Tina Reynolds The Swarbriggs Red Hurley The Swarbriggs Plus Two Colm 'C.T.' Wilkinson Cathal Dunne 1980s Johnny Logan Sheeba The Duskeys 1983 Linda Martin Maria Christian Luv Bug Johnny Logan Jump the Gun Kiev Connolly & The Missing Passengers 1990s Liam Reilly Kim Jackson Linda Martin Niamh Kavanagh Paul Harrington & Charlie McGettigan Eddie Friel Eimear Quinn Marc Roberts Dawn Martin The Mullans 2000s Eamonn Toal Gary O'Shaughnessy 2002 Mickey Harte Chris Doran Donna and Joe Brian Kennedy Dervish Dustin the Turkey Sinéad Mulvey & Black Daisy 2010s Niamh Kavanagh Jedward Ryan Dolan Can-linn feat. Kasey Smith Molly Sterling Nicky Byrne   Songs 1960s 1960 to 1964 "Walking the Streets in the Rain" "Come Back to Stay" "If I Could Choose" "Chance of a Lifetime" "The Wages of Love" 1970s "All Kinds of Everything" "One Day Love" "Ceol an Ghrá" "Do I Dream" "Cross Your Heart" "That's What Friends Are For" "When" "It's Nice To Be In Love Again" "Born to Sing" "Happy Man" 1980s "What's Another Year?" "Horoscopes" "Here Today Gone Tomorrow" 1983 "Terminal 3" "Wait Until the Weekend Comes" "You Can Count On Me" "Hold Me Now" "Take Him Home" "The Real Me" 1990s "Somewhere In Europe" "Could It Be That I'm In Love" "Why Me?" "In Your Eyes" "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" "Dreamin'" "The Voice" "Mysterious Woman" "Is Always Over Now?" "When You Need Me" 2000s "Millennium of Love" "Without Your Love" 2002 "We've Got the World" "If My World Stopped Turning" "Love?" "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" "They Can't Stop the Spring" "Irelande Douze Pointe" "Et Cetera" 2010s "It's for You" "Lipstick" "Waterline" "Only Love Survives" "Heartbeat" "Playing with Numbers" "Sunlight" (Note: Entries scored out are when Ireland did not compete)