Ireland has not yet confirmed its participation in Eurovision 2025, but a report reveals that the Irish broadcaster plans to separate its national selection, Eurosong, from “The Late Late Show”.
Ireland has not yet confirmed its participation in Eurovision 2025, However, a new report reveals that the Irish broadcaster is already planning to separate its national selection show Eurosong from The Late Late Show.
Irish broadcaster RTÉ has not yet declared its intentions regarding participation in Eurovision 2025 in Basel, Switzerland. This comes after a turbulent Eurovision season in 2024 in Malmö, with ongoing controversies involving provocations and pro-Palestinian politics by representative Bambie Thug, as well as the revealed financial cost of participating in Eurovision 2024. Despite Ireland’s potential pride in their Eurovision 2024 achievements (sixth place in the final and first qualification since 2018), their participation intentions remain unclear.
Nevertheless, a British-Irish website reports, along with several large Eurovision-focused Instagram pages, that preparations for Eurovision 2025 have already begun in Ireland. The Irish broadcaster is considering separating the Eurosong national selection from “The Late Late Show”, which has been the platform for the Irish national selection in recent years.
RTÉ has held the Eurosong national selection continuously since 2022, and between 2008-2015 as part of “The Late Late Show”. The British-Irish website Irish & UK Media News now reports that the Irish broadcaster is thoroughly examining the possibility of holding the national selection separately and independently, detached from the late-night show, for the first time since 2008. However, there’s a high likelihood that RTÉ will postpone plans for an independent national selection until 2026 due to financial difficulties, preferring to invest resources in Eurovision itself rather than organizing a separate selection show.
The organizers aim to hold Eurosong at the University Concert Hall in Limerick, which also hosted Eurosong in 2008. If Eurosong 2025 does end up being separate from “The Late Late Show”, the Limerick venue will host the independent national selection for the first time in 17 years.
As mentioned, Ireland has not yet publicly confirmed its participation in the 69th Eurovision Song Contest in Basel in May 2025, along with eight other countries that have participated in Eurovision before and are members of the European Broadcasting Union who have not yet announced their intentions for next year (Armenia, Australia, Poland, Netherlands, Monaco, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Romania). Ireland may be reserving the right to announce its participation close to the official release of the participating countries list, or it may not have made a final decision yet. In the coming months, likely after the new deadline given to the Netherlands, we will know how many and which countries will take part in Eurovision 2025.
Ireland in Eurovision 2024
Bambie Thug represented Ireland at Eurovision 2024 with the song “Doomsday Blue.” The song was chosen through the national pre-selection. Ireland advanced to the final after placing third in the first semi-final with 124 points, and in the grand final, they finished sixth with 278 points.
This marks the first time since 2018 that Ireland has qualified for the final, and it is the country’s best result since 2000.
Source: Irish & UK Media News.
Eurovision 2025: This will be Ireland’s 58th participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. Ireland joined the competition in 1965 and has won it seven times over the years, holding the record for most wins alongside Sweden. Ireland’s last victory was in Eurovision 1996 with the song “The Voice” performed by singer Eimear Quinn.
