Ireland was represented at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018, which took place on 25 November 2018 in Minsk, Belarus. The Irish broadcaster TG4 is responsible for organising their entry for the contest through a national selection show entitled Junior Eurovision Éire. The national final took place on 11 November 2018, while the semifinals took place between 14 October and 4 November. This was Ireland's fourth appearance at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

Background

Prior to the 2018 Contest, Ireland had participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest three times since its debut in . TG4 previously attempted to participate at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014, but required funding from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI), which was rejected.

Before Junior Eurovision The Irish broadcaster was included in the final list of participants of the EBU, which revealed that they would be participating at Junior Eurovision for the third time in their history. The mechanism for selecting their entrant and song was through the national selection show Junior Eurovision Éire, like in their three other appearances. The selection process is scheduled to take place every Sunday starting on 14 October, where thirty-two participants competed, and culminated into a final which took place on 11 November 2018.

Jury members Artist ESC Year(s) Song(s) Place (semi-final) Points (semi-final) Place (final) Points (final) Linda Martin "Terminal 3" rowspan="3" colspan="2" 2 137 "Why Me?" 1 155 Niamh Kavanagh "In Your Eyes" 1 187 "It's for You" 9 67 23 25 Brian Kennedy "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" 9 79 10 93 Dustin the Turkey "Irelande Douze Pointe" 15 22 colspan="2" Ryan O'Shaughnessy "Together" 6 179 16 136

Junior Eurovision Éire

Semi Final 1 The first semi final was broadcast on 14 October 2018, in which Ryan O'Shaughnessy was the guest judge and the opening act. Draw Artist Song Result Number of stars 01 Saibh Skelly "Grian is Gealach le chéile" Final Duel13 02 Katie O'Connor "Creidim i nGrá" Eliminated11 03 Jessica Doolan "Aisling" Final Duel15 04 Faith Robinson "Damhsa" Eliminated11 05 Grace O'Dwyer "Ár nDomhan Beag" Eliminated11 06 Na Dynamos "Fan Liom" Eliminated11 07 Kailen Garrett "Mo Chuid Féin" Eliminated11 Saibh Skelly and Jessica Doolan both advanced to the final duel stage and performed their songs for the second time. After their second performances, the jury members selected Jessica Doolan as the winner of this semi-final and she advanced to the grand final on 11 November.

Semi Final 2 The second semi final was broadcast on 21 October 2018, in which Linda Martin was the guest judge and Aimee Banks was the opening act. Draw Artist Song Result Number of stars 01 Cailíní K.L.L. "Grá go deo" Eliminated10 02 Sarah Kenny "Áit ar bith eile ach anseo" Final Duel13 03 Julie Cole "Fadhb" Eliminated12 04 David Bradley "Bí cróga" Eliminated12 05 Kerry Ann McCreery "Tóg mo lámh" Final Duel13 06 Ellen Keane "Tusa amháin" Eliminated12 07 Erín Ní Rosach "Cuireann tú isteach orm" Eliminated10 Sarah Kenny and Kerry Ann Mc Creery advanced to the final duel stage and performed their songs for the second time. After their second performances, the jury members selected Kerry Ann McCreery as the winner of this semi-final, making her advance to the grand final on 11 November.

Semi Final 3 The third semi-final was broadcast on 28 October 2018, in which Brian Kennedy was the guest judge and Zena Donnelly was the opening act. Draw Artist Song Result Number of stars 01 Saoirse Lynch "Ar aghaidh linn" Eliminated11 02 Jemma Seery "Níos láidre le chéile" Eliminated11 03 Anna and Ava "Táimid le chéile" Final Duel, Wildcard13 04 Skye Murphy Darrer "Dúchas" Eliminated12 05 Cora Harkin "Cibé saol atá romham" Final Duel15 06 Taylor Lily Bulter "D'amhrán" Eliminated10 07 Ciara Doherty "Creid" Eliminated11

Anna and Ava and Cora Harkin advanced to the final duel stage and performed their songs for the second time. After their second performances, the jury members selected Cora Harkin as the winner of this semi-final, making her advance to the grand final on 11 November.

Semi Final 4 The fourth semi-final was broadcast on 4 November, in which Dustin the Turkey was the guest judge and Muireann McDonnell was the opening act. Draw Artist Song Result Number of stars 01Taylor Hynes"I.O.U." Final Duel, Wildcard13 02 Aoibhinn Ní Craoibhínn "Misneach" Eliminated12 03 Aisling Mullarkey "Is Déagóir Mé" Eliminated12 04 Shaniah Llane Rollo "Cuimhnigh ar na Réaltaí" Final Duel15 05 Fia Lynn "Éist Linn" Eliminated10 06 Ella Meakin Griffin "Samhlaigh Liom" Eliminated12 07 Aoife McNerney"Mo Ghrá, Mo Shaol" Eliminated11 Taylor Hynes and Shaniah Llane Rollo advanced to the final duel of the show. After performing for a second time, the judges decided that Shaniah would advance to the final.

Final The grand final was broadcast on 11 November. Niamh Kavanagh was the guest judge for this round. For the final, a sing-off was introduced between the top two contenders. Draw Artist Song Result 01Jessica Doolan"Aisling"Eliminated 02Taylor Hynes"I.O.U." Final Duel 03Cora Harkin"Cibé saol atá romham"Eliminated 04Shaniah Llane Rollo"Cuimhnigh ar na Réaltaí" Final Duel 05 Anna and Ava "Táimid le chéile"Eliminated 06Kerry Ann McCreery"Tóg mo lámh"Eliminated Draw Artist Song Result 01 Shaniah Llane Rollo "Cuimhnigh ar na Réaltaí" Runner-up 02 Taylor Hynes "I.O.U." Winner

Artist and song information

Taylor Hynes Taylor Hynes (born 7 February 2004) is an Irish child singer. He represented Ireland in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "IOU". He previously entered Junior Eurovision Eire in 2016, where he failed to make the final. He returned to the selection in 2018 and came second in his heat, however a day after his heat was broadcast, he was leaked by Belarusian TV as Ireland's Junior Eurovision entrant. He was born in Dublin, but currently lives in Clonee.

IOU IOU is a song by Irish child singer Taylor Hynes. It represented Ireland at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The music video clip features Hynes alongside Eurovision winner Niamh Kavanagh and 2018 Irish entrant Ryan O'Shaughnessy.

At Junior Eurovision During the opening ceremony and the running order draw which both took place on 19 November 2018, Ireland was drawn to perform ninth on 25 November 2018, following Belarus and preceding Serbia.

Voting

+ Points awarded to Ireland Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point Ireland received 36 points from the online vote

+ Points awarded by Ireland Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Detailed voting results + Draw Country Juror A Juror B Juror C Juror D Juror E Rank Points 01 3 6 2 12 6 6 5 02 17 12 11 11 12 15 03 7 7 13 3 3 7 4 04 16 16 17 6 5 10 1 05 8 8 12 17 18 14 06 18 19 16 18 13 18 07 10 5 5 13 11 8 3 08 6 10 9 14 10 9 2 09 10 15 15 14 8 7 11 11 2 2 3 7 8 2 10 12 11 4 7 4 1 4 7 13 1 3 1 1 4 1 12 14 12 13 10 19 19 16 15 5 9 4 5 2 5 6 16 14 14 15 9 9 12 17 9 17 18 16 17 17 18 19 18 19 10 14 19 19 4 1 6 2 16 3 8 20 13 11 8 15 15 13

References