Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995

Eurovision Song Contest 1995
Participating broadcaster	Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ)
Country	Ireland
National selection
Selection process	National final
Selection date(s)	12 March 1995
Selected artist(s)	Eddie Friel
Selected song	"Dreamin'"
Selected songwriter(s)	Richard Abbott Barry Woods
Finals performance
Final result	14th, 44 points
Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1994 • 1995 • 1996►

Ireland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 with the song "Dreamin'", written by Richard Abbott and Barry Woods, and performed by Eddie Friel. The Irish participating broadcaster, Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), selected its entry through a national final. In addition, RTÉ was also the host broadcaster –for the third year in a row– and staged the event at the Point Theatre in Dublin –for the second time in a row–, after winning the previous edition with the song "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" by Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan.

Before Eurovision

National final

Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ) held its national final on 12 March 1995 at the Cork Opera House in Cork. For the fifth year running, Pat Kenny hosted the event. The eight songs presented were voted on by ten regional juries.[1]

Draw	Performer	Song	Points	Place
1	Eddie Friel	"Dreamin'"	99	1
2	Mary Farrell	"The Night Time"	66	6
3	Annette Griffin	"Ó Am go hAm"	68	5
4	Henry Winter	"Now That Love Has Brought You Back Again"	37	7
5	Joan Connolly	"Rainy Day"	33	8
6	Carl Corcoran	"Little by Little"	73	4
7	Maggie Toal	"Come Back and Hold Me"	82	3
8	Naoimh Penston	"Always You"	92	2

Detailed Regional Jury Votes

Draw	Song	Athlone	Buncrana	Castlebar	Cork	Dublin	Dundalk	Galway	Kilkenny	Limerick	Waterford	Total
1	"Dreamin'"	12	5	7	12	12	10	12	10	12	7	99
2	"The Night Time"	8	7	5	7	5	5	10	6	7	6	66
3	"Ó Am go hAm"	10	6	10	5	8	8	6	5	5	5	68
4	"Now That Love Has Brought You Back Again"	4	4	4	4	3	3	4	3	4	4	37
5	"Rainy Day"	3	3	3	3	4	4	3	4	3	3	33
6	"Little by Little"	5	8	12	8	7	7	5	7	6	8	73
7	"Come Back and Hold Me"	6	10	6	6	6	12	8	8	10	10	82
8	"Always You"	7	12	8	10	10	6	7	12	8	12	92

Following its victory, the winning song "Dreamin'" caused some controversy following plagiarism allegations due to similarities to a Julie Felix song called "Moonlight". The second-placed song in the national final, "Always You", was for a while considered as a potential replacement for Friel, however an agreement with Felix allowed the song to continue in the contest.[2]

At Eurovision

"Dreamin'" went on to take 14th place in the contest with 44 points, breaking Ireland's record three-year-long winning streak.[3] Ireland won again, however, the following year.

Voting

Points awarded to Ireland[4] Score Country 12 points 10 points  Sweden 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Russia  Slovenia  Turkey 4 points  Greece 3 points  Iceland  Spain 2 points 1 point  Denmark  France  Germany  Norway

Points awarded by Ireland[4] Score Country 12 points  Sweden 10 points  Norway 8 points  Slovenia 7 points  Denmark 6 points  Iceland 5 points  France 4 points  Malta 3 points  Croatia 2 points  Spain 1 point  United Kingdom

References

1. "https://web.archive.org/web/20091022133216/http://geocities.com/national_finals_90s_00s/Ireland1995.html
2. Roxburgh, Gordon (2020). Songs For Europe - The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Four: The 1990s. UK: Telos Publishing. p. 213. ISBN 978-1-84583-163-9.
3. "Final of Dublin 1995". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
4. "Results of the Final of Dublin 1995". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.