Those of you who follow us regularly will know that we, at Eurovision Ireland, have been looking at the highs and lows of each country in the years they have taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest. Today, we are focusing on a country that has had mixed fortunes at Eurovision over the years; Ireland.

Ireland’s Participation History

Ireland entered the contest in 1965 when Butch Moore sang “I’m walking the streets in the rain”. He achieved a credible 6th place with 11 points, the winner that year being France Gall for Luxembourg with “Poupée de cire, poupée de son”. Since then , Ireland have been a country which so far has reached the peak of success in the 1970’s , 80’s and 90’s.Until this year , following Loreen winning for Sweden in Liverpool , they held the record for the most wins ever at Eurovision, seven in total. A record that Sweden now share with them.

Ireland’s highs at Eurovision

Ireland’s victories

1970-Dana -“All Kinds of Everything”

Ireland only had to wait five years for their first victory . With a sugary sweet song called “All Kinds of Everything ” , Dana sang her way to victory in The Netherlands .

1980 -Johnny Logan “What’s another Year”

No review of Ireland’s highs and lows can go without ‘Mr Eurovision’ Johnny Logan receiving a mention. Johnny Logan went to The Netherlands ( the same country where Dana had taken victory just 10 years earlier ) with his gentle ballad “What’s another year ?” and took victory from some strong contenders that year.

1987 -Johnny Logan “Hold me now”

Not content with just the one victory, Johnny Logan returned to represent Ireland in Brussels, Belgium in 1987. With a more uptempo number “Hold me now “, he won the competition for the second time , giving Ireland their third victory. No one would have thought then that he would have an influence in Ireland’s next victory which came in 1992.

1992-Linda Martin “Why Me?”

Irelands most successful run in Eurovision started in 1992, when Linda Martin took victory in Malmø, Sweden with the song “Why Me?”, which was penned by none other than Mr Eurovision , Johnny Logan . In many ways, you could say this was also his third victory at Eurovision .

1993- Niamh Kavanagh -“In your eyes”

Having taken victory the year before, no-one could have anticipated that Ireland would once again take victory, in their own back yard in Mill Street, County Cork. Niamh Kavanagh narrowly pipped the highly fancied UK entry “Better the Devil you know ” by Sonia to victory , giving the first back to back win for a country in Eurovision since Israel in 1978/79.

1994-Paul Harrington & Charlie Mcgettigan “Rock and Roll Kids”

With RTE feeling the pinch financially in having to stage two contests running , Paul Harrington and Charlie Mcgettigan went to Dublin not expecting great things.However, the voting juries clearly thought otherwise and they romped to victory with their gentle number “Rock and Roll Kids”. Which gave the Irish broadcaster RTE a bit of a financial headache as they were again in the position of having to stage the contest the next year. Thankfully for them,the broadcaster finally got a reprieve when they hosted the 1995 contest in Dublin when Norway finally broke the Irish strong hold on the contest , ironically with an Irish musician, Fionnuala Sherry, in the winning group Secret Garden with ” Nocturne “.

1996 -Eimear Quinn “The Voice”

Following Norway breaking the run of Irish victories in 1995, the 1996 contest was staged in Oslo . Ireland once again took back victory when Eimear Quinn sang “The Voice”, giving RTE a real headache as they were obliged to yet again stage the contest the following year.

Second Places

Ireland have reached the runners up spot on four occasions .

1967 Sean Dunphy “If I could choose”

Sean came second at the contest in Vienna, only beaten by the UK’s Sandie Shaw with “Puppet on a String”.

1984-Linda Martin “Terminal 3”

Before Linda’s victory in Malmø in 1992, we had already seen her perform at Eurovision, at the 1984 contest in Luxembourg, where she got runners up spot with her song “Terminal 3”.

1990-Liam Reilley “Somewhere in Europe”

In 1990, at a time where Eastern Europe was freeing itself from the Iron curtain ,and Europe was uniting , there were plenty of songs on this subject and Eurovision 1990 was no exception. Liam Reilly with “Somewhere in Europe ” reached runners up spot for Ireland in Zagreb.

1997-Marc Roberts “Mysterious Woman”

Ireland almost got an 8th victory in Dublin , when Marc Roberts with “Mysterious woman” represented the nation on home soil in Dublin. He was beaten by the UK with Katrina and the Waves , with “Love Shine a light”

Ireland’s lows at Eurovision

There have been quite a few lows for Ireland in recent times.Since the introduction of the Semi finals in 2004, they have failed to make the final 11 times! Sadly two acts have suffered the lowest point and finished last in their semi final :

2019 : Sarah Mcternan “22”

After Ryan O’ Shaughnessy had successfully reached the final the year before in Lisbon, the responsibility fell on Sarah McTernan to continue this trend. Sadly for Sarah, not only did she not make the final , she also came last in her Semi Final in Tel Aviv!

2021 Lesley Roy “Maps”

Following the enforced break of the contest in 2020, due to the Covid -19 pandemic , Lesley Roy came to Rotterdam with high hopes that she could get Ireland back to the final . Sadly another year of non-qualification happened and Lesley suffered the same fate as Sarah McTernan in 2019 and came last in her Semi Final .

There have also been last places for Ireland when they have participated in the Grand Final :

2007 -Dervish “They can’t stop the Spring”

Ireland hoped that a traditional Irish folk song would bring them success at the contest in Helsinki .Dervish went directly to the final as a result of the rule then that countries in the top ten the previous year would go directly to next year’s final. Unfortunately Europe did not agree and Dervish finished last with just 5 points.

2013 -Ryan Dolan “Only love survives”.

There are many who may still think today that Ryan was unlucky to come last in the final of the 2013 contest in Malmø, Sweden. Performing last in the running order and with not a bad song,Ryan came last , suffering the same fate as Dervish with just 5 points.

Ireland’s other lows

There have been other lows experienced by Ireland , where it wasn’t so much the final result that was the low point but just bad songs which really perhaps should have stayed at home .

2008 Dustin the Turkey “Irelande douze points”

Although it’s probably fair to say that Ireland were perhaps reluctant to win the contest in the early 2000’s so soon after their domination of the 90’s because of the expense of hosting again, they certainly made sure of that in 2008 by sending a puppet called Dustin the Turkey to Belgrade. No one would have probably minded had the song and vocals been tuneful , however it was anything but and it came as no surprise that Ireland did not qualify that year.

2001 Gary O’ Shaughnessy “Without your love”

Gary tried his best in the competition in Copenhagen in 2001, however the song didn’t have the ingredients to stand out amongst other , much stronger, entries and he came 21st with 6 points. Gary is the Uncle of Ryan , who later competed for Ireland in 2018, in Lisbon and fared better than his uncle by reaching the Grand Final and coming 16th .

2004 Chris Doran “If my world stopped turning “

Chris went directly to the final in the first year when the Semi final system was introduced, as Ireland had finished 11th the year before.Despite a fair, if not a little unspectacular performance , Europe did not take to the song and Chris finished 22nd with just 7 points.

So there we have it. That’s just some of the Highs and lows of Ireland at Eurovision . What do you think? Do you think there are others we should have included either for the result or just the sheer quality or lack of it ? What are your highs and lows for Ireland at Eurovision? Let us know by dropping a line in our comments box below and you can also find us on Facebook and Twitter.

Author ; Sarah Rudman

Source: Eurovision.tv Eurovision Gold, You Tube