Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

has participated in the

Junior Eurovision Song Contest The Junior Eurovision Song Contest (often shortened to JESC, Junior Eurovision or Junior EuroSong) is an international song competition which has been organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) annually since 2003. It is held in a diff ...

seven times since their first appearance at the . Irish-language broadcaster

TG4 TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was formerly known ...

has been responsible for the country's participation in the contest, and organises a televised national final to select the Irish entries. TG4 did not participate in due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but returned to the contest in . Since their debut, Ireland has placed in the top 10 twice: in when the song "" performed by Zena Donnelly placed 10th out of 17 participating countries, and in 2022 when "" by Sophie Lennon placed 4th out of 16 participants.

History

TG4 originally intended to make their debut in the contest in Marsa, Malta, but required funding from the

Broadcasting Authority of Ireland The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) ( ga, Údarás Craolacháin na hÉireann) was established on 1 October 2009 effectively replacing the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) ( ga, Coimisiún Craolacháin na hÉireann). The BAI is ...

, which was rejected. Ireland debuted in the contest when TG4 participated in the contest in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

, Bulgaria, when the song " Réalta na mara" performed by

Aimee Banks Aimee Banks (born 14 February 2002) is an Irish soprano from Moycullen, in County Galway. She represented Ireland at the 2015 Junior Eurovision Song Contest, singing ''Réalta na Mara'', (lit. Star of the sea), a song which she co-wrote and co ...

placed 12th in a field of 17 countries. Despite having initially confirmed their participation in the contest in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

in January 2020, TG4 announced in August 2020 that they would not participate in the contest due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. In February 2021, TG4 confirmed their participation in the contest in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

''Junior Eurovision Éire''

''Junior Eurovision Éire'' is an Irish television show which has served as Ireland's national final for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest since the country's debut in 2015. The show was hosted by Eoghan McDermott from 2015-2019. Between 2015 and 2018, the show selected both the song and the artist, while in 2019 and 2021 the show selected only the artist, and the song was selected internally. McDermott stepped down from the programme in 2021, and was replaced by Louise Cantillon.

Participation overview

Commentators and spokespersons

Gallery

File:Aimee Banks at stage of JESC 2015 (2).jpg,

during the rehearsals in

() File:JESC 2016 Zena Donnelly (Ireland).jpg, Zena Donnelly during the rehearsals in

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 wa ...

() File:Taylor Hynes at JESC 2018 (1).jpg, Taylor Hynes during the rehearsals in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

() File:Anna Kearney 2019.jpg, Anna Kearney during the rehearsals in

Gliwice Gliwice (; german: Gleiwitz) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional capi ...

()

Notes and references

Notes

References

{{Ireland in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest Countries in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest