Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995

Ireland in the
Eurovision Song Contest 1995
Ireland in the; Eurovision Song Contest 1995
Eurovision Song Contest 1995
Participating broadcaster	Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ)
Country	Ireland
Selection process	Eurosong '95
Selection date	12 March 1995
Competing entry
Song	"Dreamin'"
Artist	Eddie Friel
Songwriters	Richard Abbott; Barry Woods;
Placement
Final result	14th, 44 points
Participation chronology

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

Eurosong '95

Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ) held Eurosong '95 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.

R/O	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
R/O	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", released in 1971. 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.

At Eurovision

"Dreamin'" was performed in second position on the night, after Poland and before Germany, and went on to take 14th place in the contest with 44 points, breaking Ireland's record three-year-long winning streak.

The contest was broadcast on RTÉ 1 (with commentary by Pat Kenny) and on radio station RTÉ Radio 1 (with commentary by Larry Gogan).

Voting

Points awarded to Ireland
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
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

↑ 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.
↑ "Final of Dublin 1995". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
↑ "Nocturne Wins for Norway". RTÉ Libraries and Archives. Archived from the original on 20 May 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
↑ "Saturday: Television and Radio". The Irish Times Weekend. Dublin, Ireland. 13 May 1995. p. 6. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
1 2 "Results of the Final of Dublin 1995". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.

[Roxburgh-1] 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.

[2] "Final of Dublin 1995". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.

[3] "Nocturne Wins for Norway". RTÉ Libraries and Archives. Archived from the original on 20 May 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2026.

[4] "Saturday: Television and Radio". The Irish Times Weekend. Dublin, Ireland. 13 May 1995. p. 6. Retrieved 8 September 2026.

[1995detailed-5] 1 2 "Results of the Final of Dublin 1995". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.

v t e Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest
National selections: Eurosong You're a Star (former)
Participation	1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 ~~2020~~ 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Artists	Bambie Thug Black Daisy Brooke Nicky Byrne Can-linn Maria Christian Kiev Connolly Dana Muriel Day Dervish Ryan Dolan Donna and Joe Chris Doran Cathal Dunne Sean Dunphy The Duskeys Dustin the Turkey Emmy Angela Farrell Eddie Friel Paul Harrington Mickey Harte Red Hurley Kim Jackson Jedward Sandie Jones Jump the Gun Niamh Kavanagh Brian Kennedy The Lindsays Johnny Logan Luv Bug Dawn Martin Linda Martin Maxi Pat McGeegan Charlie McGettigan Sarah McTernan The Missing Passengers Butch Moore The Mullans Sinéad Mulvey Brendan Murray Gary O'Shaughnessy Ryan O'Shaughnessy Eimear Quinn Liam Reilly Tina Reynolds Marc Roberts Dickie Rock Lesley Roy Sheeba Kasey Smith Molly Sterling The Swarbriggs Eamonn Toal Wild Youth Colm C.T. Wilkinson
Songs	"22" "All Kinds of Everything" "Born to Sing" "Ceol an Ghrá" "Chance of a Lifetime" "Come Back to Stay" "Could It Be That I'm in Love" "Cross Your Heart" "Do I Dream" "Doomsday Blue" "Dreamin'" "Dying to Try" "Et Cetera" "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" "Happy Man" "Heartbeat" "Here Today Gone Tomorrow" "Hold Me Now" "Horoscopes" "If I Could Choose" "If My World Stopped Turning" "In Your Eyes" "Irelande Douze Pointe" "Is Always Over Now?" "It's for You" "It's Nice to Be in Love Again" "Laika Party" "Lipstick" "Love?" "Maps" "Millennium of Love" "Mysterious Woman" "One Day Love" "Only Love Survives" "Playing with Numbers" "The Real Me" "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" "Somewhere in Europe" ~~"Story of My Life"~~ "Sunlight" "Take Him Home" "Terminal 3" "That's Rich" "That's What Friends Are For" "They Can't Stop the Spring" "Together" "The Voice" "The Wages of Love" "Wait Until the Weekend Comes" "Walking the Streets in the Rain" "Waterline" "We Are One" "We've Got the World" "What's Another Year" "When" "When You Need Me" "Why Me?" "Without Your Love" "You Can Count On Me"
Note: Entries scored out signify where Ireland did not compete. Italics indicate an entry in a future contest. See also: Irish Eurovision discography

v t e Eurovision Song Contest 1995
Countries	Austria Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatia Cyprus Denmark France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Israel Malta Norway Poland Portugal Russia Slovenia Spain Sweden Turkey United Kingdom
Artists	Anabel Conde Tó Cruz Arzu Ece Frédéric Etherlinck Eddie Friel Bo Halldórsson Jan Johansen Stella Jones Justyna Philipp Kirkorov Elina Konstantopoulou Liora Love City Groove Magazin and Lidija Alexandros Panayi Davor Popović Nathalie Santamaria Secret Garden Mike Spiteri Stone & Stone Darja Švajger Csaba Szigeti Aud Wilken
Songs	"Amen" "Baunilha e chocolate" "Dreamin'" "Dvadeset prvi vijek" "Fra Mols til Skagen" "Il me donne rendez-vous" "Keep Me in Mind" "Kolybelnaya dlya vulkana" "Love City Groove" "Nocturne" "Nostalgija" "Núna" "Pia prosefhi" "Prisluhni mi" "Sama" "Se på mig" "Sev!" "Sti fotia" "Új név egy régi ház falán" "Verliebt in Dich" "La Voix est libre" "Vuelve conmigo" "Die Welt dreht sich verkehrt"