Over the course of April and May, on the lead up to the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest, we will be celebrating the countries that are participating this year in Rotterdam. Today is the final day and we celebrate Ireland.

Ireland debuted at the Contest in 1965, in Naples, Italy. Butch Moore finished in sixth place with his entry “Walking the Streets in the Rain”, scoring 11 points.

The most successful entry from Ireland was in 1970, 1980, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996. In 1970, when the Contest took place in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Dana finished in first place with her entry “All Kinds of Everything”, scoring 32 points.

In 1980, when the Contest took place in The Hague, The Netherlands, Johnny Logan finished in first place with his entry “What’s Another Year?”, scoring 143 points. This included seven sets of twelve points from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

In 1987, when the Contest took place in Brussels, Belgium, Johnny Logan finished in first place with his entry “Hold Me Now”, scoring 172 points. This included eight sets of twelve points from Austria, Belgium, Finland, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

In 1992, when the Contest took place in Malmo, Sweden, Linda Martin finished in first place with her entry “Why Me?”, scoring 155 points. This included three sets of twelve points from Greece, Malta and Turkey.

In 1993, when the Contest took place in Millstreet, Ireland, Niamh Kavanagh finished in first place with her entry “In Your Eyes?”, scoring 187 points. This included seven sets of twelve points from Italy, Malta, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

In 1994, when the Contest took place in Dublin, Ireland, Paul Harrington & Charlie McGettigan finished in first place with their entry “Rock ‘n’ Roll Kids”, scoring 226 points. This included eight sets of twelve points from Croatia, Germany, Iceland, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland and The Netherlands.

In 1996, when the Contest took place in Oslo, Norway, Eimear Quinn finished in first place with her entry “The Voice”, scoring 162 points. This included seven sets of twelve points from Bosnia & Herzegovina, Estonia, Poland, Slovenia, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Turkey.

The most recent Irish entry was due to be in 2020, when the cancelled Contest was due to take place in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Lesley Roy was due to represent Ireland with her entry “Story of My Life”.

This year, Ireland will be represented by Lesley Roy with her song “Maps”. Will Lesley Roy take Ireland to their eighth victory?

Join us in June, as we celebrate the countries that have previously participated at the Eurovision Song Contest. Let us know what you think about the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest – either in the comments below or on our FACEBOOK and TWITTER pages.

Author: Richard Taylor

Source: Eurovision Ireland