Report Card: Ireland at Eurovision in the 2020s

Photo courtesy of the EBU

With five Eurovision Song Contests completed this decade, how is each nation faring?

In an ongoing series, the Aussievision team will rate the performance of each Eurovision nation in alphabetical order.

We’ll look back at their results from 2021 to 2025, their qualification record, give our team’s rating, and see how they stack up against other countries.

Ireland's Eurovision results of the 2020s

• 2021: Lesley Roy - Maps: 16th in Semi-Final 2

• 2022: Brooke - That's Rich : 15th in Semi-Final 2

• 2023: Wild Youth - We Are One : 12th in Semi-Final 1

• 2024: Bambie Thug - Doomsday Blue : 6th in the Grand Final

• 2025: Emmy - Laika Party : 13th in Semi-Final 2

• Top 10s: 1

• Qualifications: 20%

Team rating of Ireland: 32%

We asked the Aussievision team to rate Ireland's Eurovision 2020s entries on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest).

This gave us an average overall score from the ten contributors who voted. We then converted that into a percentage.

Ireland's score was: 32%

The scores ranged from 2/10 to 4/10, with a pretty even spread of marks.

Team comments

"If it weren't for Bambie Thug this list would look grim. Bless Ireland for improving their national final year on year and trying some new things, but for the most part it's not working. Brooke Scullion has become such a well loved fan favourite and has time and time again showed up at Eurovision events which I really appreciate. I have faith Ireland - be authentic and give the artist control and you'll be back on track." ~ Liv

"God I hate doing this but sorry 4 points is all you deserve Ireland. Choosing Bambie was a stroke of genius - an absolute masterpiece on the Eurovision stage.... and Brooke was absolutely robbed of a qualification. BUT - there needs to be a better way to do their selection. I would love to see Ireland return to the powerhouse they once were - just ditch that half-arsed selection they use now and get Bambie on the panel every freaking year." ~ Hayley

"Bambie's breakout in 2024 is the only highlight in a dull, dull period for Ireland. We all hoped they'd reached a turning point, but it was back to more of the same after Emmy couldn't continue the momentum this year. So again, they're at the crossroads on whether they want to dish up more cheesy NQs year after year, or make some serious changes to their system so they get back on the path to being a powerhouse again, and stop the likes of Sweden etc taking their crown for the most titles." ~ Kiel

"Laika Party could have ridden the wave started by Bambie Thug, alas, there was no party in the sky.

Ireland have started to experiment, and I think the Bambie’s break out is just the start of the reinvention that will hopefully get them back to qualifying." ~ Troy

"It hasn't been great for this once great nation of Eurovision, has it? If it was not for Bambie Thug, the score would be lower.

Ireland have not even been just missing out on finals, they're not ever close. That national final late night show selection thing really needs to go." ~ Fleur

"The 2020s are not Ireland's decade because the run of songs went from bangers like in 2022 and 2025 to nothing special like in 2023 and 2024. Selecting Bambie Thug in 2024 is definitely not worth the hype for me, and unless they have to do something to get out of this mediocrity purgatory, Ireland could fade away into irrelevancy. There is absolutely no denying that Sweden could, one day, overtake Ireland in terms of Eurovision wins." ~ John Christian

"Ireland have truly gone from the rulers to the court jesters of Eurovision. This decade has been a pretty dire start for the Emerald Isle. Yes they do have one top 10 placing but they also had that last decade too. Bambie Thug pretty much stands out like a lighthouse off Ireland's desolate Atlantic coast. Personally for me The Late Late Show itself isn't the problem with Ireland's national selection, and may in fact help bring in viewership. It is the cramped studio stage and poor sound quality that was designed for talk shows not musical performances, that are the issues. Bambie Thug was revolutionary and also disproved Linda Martin's antiquated theory that Ireland needs to send a ballad to do well. What Ireland needs to send is something unique like Bambie Thug, and I have every confidence they can do that again." ~ Sam

Updated rankings:

Here’s how the leaderboard looks so far in our 2020s Report Card series:

1st: Finland - 88.1%

2nd: France 81.1%

3rd: Greece - 80.8%

4th: Estonia - 80%

5th: Austria - 71.4%

6th: Armenia - 70.8%

7th: Albania - 67.5%

8th: Cyprus - 66.4%

9th: Croatia - 64.4%

10th=: Belgium - 53.3%

10th=: Czechia - 53.3%

10th=: Iceland - 53.3%

13th: Australia - 45.4%

14th: Germany - 41%

15th: Azerbaijan - 32.5%

15th: Ireland - 32%

17th: Denmark - 28%

18th: Georgia - 26.1%

We'll see how they rank against other nations in the coming days and weeks.

For continued updates on all Eurovision Song Contest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky and Instagram. All the links can be found at: https://linktr.ee/aussievisionnet

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