Ireland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1976 with the song "When", written by Brendan Graham, and performed by Red Hurley. The Irish participating broadcaster, Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), selected its entry through a national final.
| Eurovision Song Contest 1976 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participating broadcaster | Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ) | |||
| Country |  Ireland | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | National final | |||
| Selection date(s) | 8 February 1976 | |||
| Selected artist(s) | Red Hurley | |||
| Selected song | "When" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) | Brendan Graham | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 10th, 54 points | |||
| Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Before Eurovision
editNational final
editRadio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ) held the national final on 8 February 1976 at its studios in Dublin, hosted by Mike Murphy. Eight songs took part, with the winner chosen by voting from eight regional juries.
Other participants included past and future Irish representatives The Swarbriggs (1975 and 1977), Cathal Dunne (1979) and Linda Martin (winner in 1992) who performed as a member of the group Chips.[1]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MacWilliams | "Old Fashioned Song" | 4 | 6 |
| 2 | Cahir O'Doherty | "If I Had Your Love" | 0 | 7 |
| 3 | Mary Clifford | "Cá bhfuil Grá?" | 12 | 3 |
| 4 | The Swarbriggs | "The Way of Love" | 6 | 5 |
| 5 | Chips | "We Can Fly" | 16 | 2 |
| 6 | Red Hurley | "When" | 32 | 1 |
| 7 | Trinity | "Cé'n Fáth Atáim i nGrá?" | 0 | 7 |
| 8 | Cathal Dunne | "Danny" | 10 | 4 |
At Eurovision
editOn the evening of the final Hurley performed 7th in the running order, following Belgium and preceding the Netherlands. At the close of voting, "When" had picked up 54 points, placing Ireland 10th of the 18 entries.[2] Ireland received one maximum 12 from Italy, which the Irish jury reciprocated by awarding their 12 to the Italian song – oddly, neither country received a maximum vote from any other national jury.[3]
Voting
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References
edit- ^ ESC National Finals database 1976
- ^ "Final of The Hague 1976". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
- ^ ESC History – Ireland 1976
- ^ a b "Results of the Final of The Hague 1976". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.