Ireland in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
Ireland has been represented at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest nine times since its first appearance at the. The Irish participating broadcaster in the contest is Irish-language TG4. It organises a televised national final Junior Eurovision Éire to select its entries. TG4 did not participate in due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but returned to the contest in.
Since its debut, it has placed in the top 10 twice: in when the song "Bríce ar bhríce" performed by Zena Donnelly placed 10th out of 17 participating countries, and in 2022 when "Solas" 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, which was rejected.Ireland debuted in the contest when TG4 participated in the contest in Sofia, Bulgaria, when the song "Réalta na mara" performed by Aimee Banks placed 12th in a field of 17 countries.
Despite having initially confirmed their participation in the contest in Warsaw, Poland in January 2020, TG4 announced in August 2020 that they would not participate in the contest due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2021, TG4 confirmed their participation in the contest in France.
In 2022, Ireland achieved its best result in the contest, when Sophie Lennon finished in fourth place with the power ballad "Solas". However, the following year in 2023, in a reversal of fortunes, Ireland achieved last place for the first time in its participation.
''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 to 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
| Year | Artist | Song | Language | Place | Points |
| Aimee Banks | "Réalta na mara" | Irish | 12 | 36 | |
| Zena Donnelly | "Bríce ar bhríce" | Irish, English | 10 | 122 | |
| Muireann McDonnell | "Súile glasa" | Irish | 15 | 54 | |
| Taylor Hynes | "IOU" | Irish | 15 | 48 | |
| Anna Kearney | "Banshee" | Irish | 12 | 73 | |
| Maiú Levi Lawlor | "Saor " | Irish | 18 | 44 | |
| Sophie Lennon | "Solas" | Irish | 4 | 150 | |
| Jessica McKean | "Aisling" | Irish | 16 ◁ | 42 | |
| Enya Cox Dempsey | "Le chéile" | Irish | 15 | 55 | |
| Lottie O'Driscoll Murray | "Rúin" | Irish | 18 ◁ | 44 |