1. Background

2. Before Eurovision
    Internal selection 

3. At Eurovision
    Voting 

4. References

Ireland will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "22", performed by Sarah McTernan and written by Janieck Devy, Marcia "Misha" Sondeijker, and Roel Rats. The song and the singer were internally selected in March 2019 by the Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) to represent the nation at the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Background

Prior to the 2019 Contest, Ireland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 51 times since its first entry in {{ESCYr|1965}}.^[1] Ireland has won the contest a record seven times in total. The country's first win came in 1970, with then-18-year-old Dana winning with "All Kinds of Everything". Ireland holds the record for being the only country to win the contest three times in a row (in 1992, 1993 and 1994), as well as having the only three-time winner (Johnny Logan, who won in 1980 as a singer, 1987 as a singer-songwriter, and again in 1992 as a songwriter). In 2011 and 2012, Jedward represented the nation for two consecutive years, managing to qualify to the final both times and achieve Ireland's highest position in the contest since 2000, placing eighth in 2011 with the song "Lipstick". However, in 2013, despite managing to qualify to the final, Ryan Dolan and his song "Only Love Survives" placed last in the final. The Irish entries in 2014, "Heartbeat" performed by Can-Linn featuring Kasey Smith, in 2015, "Playing with Numbers" performed by Molly Sterling, in 2016 "Sunlight" performed by Nicky Byrne, and in 2017 "Dying to Try" performed by Brendan Murray all failed to qualify to the final. Ireland once again qualified for the final in 2018 with the song Together performed by Ryan O'Shaughnessy, placing 16th in the grand final.

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

On 8 March 2019, RTÉ announced Sarah McTernan as the Irish entrant at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song 22.^[2]

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2019, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Ireland was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 16 May 2019, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.^[3]

Once all the competing songs for the 2019 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Ireland was set to perform in position 2, following the entry from Armenia and preceding the entry from Moldova.^[4]

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.

References

• General union of algerian workers
• General Union of Arab Students
• General union of arab students
• General Union of Central African Workers
• General Union of Djibouti Workers
• General union of djibouti workers
• General union of moroccan workers
• General Union of Moroccan Workers
• General Union of Oil Employees
• General union of palestinian students
• General Union of Palestinian Students
• General Union of Railway Clerks
• General Union of Syrian Women
• General union of syrian women
• General union of the workers of guinea
• General Union of the Workers of Guinea
• General Union of the Workers of São Tomé and Príncipe
• General Union of Workers of Niger
• General union of workers of niger
• General Union of Workers (Portugal)
• General unitary group
• General (United Kingdom)
• General (United States)
• General Urano Teixeira Da Matta Bacellar
• General Urquiza Railway