Ireland was represented at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021, held in Paris, France. Maiú Levi Lawlor was selected by TG4 through a televised national final, with his song, " (Disappear)", being internally selected.
The country returned to the contest after a break of one year from the 2020 contest due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Background
Prior to the 2021 contest, Ireland had participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest five times since its debut in . In , Anna Kearney represented the country with the song "Banshee", finishing 12th out of 19 entries with 73 points. Despite having initially confirmed their participation in the contest in Warsaw, Poland in January 2020, TG4 announced in August 2020 that they would not participate in the contest due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before Junior Eurovision
Junior Eurovision Éire Junior Eurovision Éire returned to select the Irish act. Eoghan McDermott, who hosted the selection from 2015 to 2019, did not return to host the selection. He was replaced by Louise Cantillon, a Dublin-based radio presenter.
All songs were performed in Irish.
Jury members As in previous editions, the results of each show were decided by an in-studio jury of two permanent members and revolving guest judges. The two permanent judges were:
Niamh Ní Chróinín – Radio presenter, manager of Irish-language youth radio station Raidió Rí-Rá Fiachna Ó Braonáin – Member of Hothouse Flowers (interval act at Eurovision Song Contest 1988), a permanent judge on Junior Eurovision Éire 2016–2018, composer of "Banshee" (Junior Eurovision 2019 Irish entry)
+ Guest Judges Artist ESC Year(s) Song(s) Place(SF) Points(SF) 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 Mickey Joe Harte "We've Got the World" colspan="2" 11 53 Brian Kennedy "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" 9 79 10 93 Jedward "Lipstick" 8 68 8 119 "Waterline" 6 92 19 46 Lesley Roy "Maps" 16 ◁ 20colspan="2"
Heat 1 + Detailed jury voting results DrawArtistJury VotesTotal Juror 1 Juror 2 Juror 31Eva Norton9108282Ronan Spencer999273Lilyella Buckley10109294Orla McDermott9910285Katie Hardiman899266Aimee and Grace Gillard789247Saoirse Garrihy78722
The first heat of was broadcast on 12 September 2021, with Niamh Kavanagh as the guest judge. Draw Artist Song Stars Result 01Eva Norton"This Is Me" (Keala Settle)28 Final duel 02Ronan Spencer"Always" 27Eliminated 03Lilyella Buckley"Someone You Loved" 29 Semi-Final 04Orla McDermott"Ghost" 28Final duel 05Katie Hardiman"Catch and Release" 27Eliminated 06Aimee and Grace Gillard"Feel It Again" 24Eliminated 07Saoirse Garrihy"Shape of You" 22Eliminated
+ Final duel Draw Artist Song Votes Result 01Eva Norton"This Is Me" 2 Semi-Final02Orla McDermott"Ghost" 1Eliminated Lilyella Buckley received the highest number of stars, and advanced directly to the semi-final. Eva Norton and Orla McDermott both advanced to the final duel stage and performed their covers a second time. After their second performances, the jury members selected Eva as the winner, granting a spot in the semi-final.
Heat 2 + Detailed jury voting results DrawArtistJury VotesTotal Juror 1 Juror 2 Juror 31Shannon Copeland989262Cora Harkin988253Sienna Hopkins889254Zara Alexander778225Riaghan Boardman887236Rainne Isibeal Marzo676197Grace Nic Giolla Channáin67518
The second heat of was broadcast on 19 September 2021, with Brian Kennedy as the guest judge. Draw Artist Song Stars Result 01Shannon Copeland"Halo" 26 Semi-Final 02Cora Harkin"Catch Me If You Can" 25Final duel 03Sienna Hopkins"Nervous" 25 Final duel 04Zara Alexander"Stay with Me" 22Eliminated 05Riaghan Boardman"Bruises" 23Eliminated 06Rainne Isibeal Marzo"Pompeii" 19Eliminated 07Grace Nic Giolla Channáin"September Song" 18Eliminated
+ Final duel Draw Artist Song Votes Result 01Cora Harkin"Catch Me If You Can" 2Semi-Final02Sienna Hopkins"Nervous" 1Eliminated Shannon Copeland received the highest number of stars, and advanced directly to the semi-final. Cora Harkin and Sienna Hopkins both advanced to the final duel stage and performed their covers a second time. After their second performances, the jury members selected Cora as the winner, granting a spot in the semi-final.
Heat 3 + Detailed jury voting results DrawArtistJury VotesTotal Juror 1 Juror 2 Juror 31Sadbh Breatnach898252Alison McGrath9108273Kayden Spooner798244Sophie Lennon101010305Cathal Mulvey797236Ciara Hassan887237Maya and Lia Sheils78722
The third heat of was broadcast on 26 September 2021, with Jedward as the guest judges. Draw Artist Song Stars Result 01Sadbh Breathnach"Perfect" 25Final duel 02Alison McGrath"Castles" 27Final duel 03Kayden Spooner"Lonely World" 24Eliminated 04Sophie Lennon"Circle of Life" 30Semi-Final 05Cathal Mulvey "Take My Hand" 23Eliminated 06Ciara Hassan"Dancing with a Stranger" 23Eliminated 07Maya and Lia Sheils"The Cup Song" 22Eliminated
+ Final duel Draw Artist Song Votes Result 01Sadbh Breathnach"Perfect" 1Eliminated 02Alison McGrath"Castles" 2Semi-Final Sophie Lennon received the highest number of stars, and advanced directly to the semi-final. Sadbh Breathnach and Alison McGrath both advanced to the final duel stage and performed their covers a second time. After their second performances, the jury members selected Alison as the winner, granting a spot in the semi-final.
Heat 4 + Detailed jury voting results DrawArtistJury VotesTotal Juror 1 Juror 2 Juror 31Julie Cole998262Kate Skelton878233Maiú Levi Lawlor798244Victoria Foster778225Ruby Maher898256Neala Graham656177Katie Coyle76620
The fourth and final heat of was broadcast on 3 October 2021, with Mickey Joe Harte as the guest judge. Draw Artist Song Stars Result 01Julie Cole"I’ll Be There" 26Semi-Final 02Kate Skelton "Grace" 23Eliminated 03Maiú Levi Lawlor"Hold Back the River" 24Final duel 04Victoria Foster "Shut Up and Dance" 22Eliminated 05Ruby Maher"Hold Me While You Wait" 25Final duel 06Neala Graham "Lullaby" 17Eliminated 07Katie Coyle "Lost Without You" 20Eliminated
+ Final duel Draw Artist Song Votes Result 01Maiú Levi Lawlor"Hold Back the River" 2Semi-Final 02Ruby Maher"Hold Me While You Wait" 1Eliminated Julie Cole received the highest number of stars, and advanced directly to the semi-final. Maiú Levi Lawlor and Ruby Maher both advanced to the final duel stage and performed their covers a second time. After their second performances, the jury members selected Maiú as the winner, granting a spot in the semi-final.
Semi-final The semi final of was broadcast on 10 October 2021, with Lesley Roy as the guest judge. Draw Artist Song Result 01Shannon Copeland"New York" Eliminated 02 Maiú Levi Lawlor "Grace" Final duel 03 Alison McGrath"Ghost" Eliminated 04 Lilyella Buckley "Lost Without You" Finalist 05Cora Harkin"Shut Up and Dance" Eliminated 06 Sophie Lennon "Hold Me While You Wait" Finalist 07 Julie Cole "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" Final duel 08 Eva Norton "Hold My Hand" Eliminated
+ Final duel Draw Artist Song Votes Result 01 Maiú Levi Lawlor "Grace" 2Finalist 02 Julie Cole "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" 1Eliminated Lilyella Buckley and Sophie Lennon were both chosen by the jury to advance directly to the final. Maiú Levi Lawlor and Julie Cole were both chosen to go through to the final duel stage and performed their covers a second time. After their second performances, the jury members selected Maiú as the winner, granting a spot in the final.
Final The final of Junior Eurovision Éire was broadcast on 17 October 2021, with Linda Martin as the guest judge. Each artist performed two songs before the jury decided on two of them to advance to the final duel. In the final duel, Maiú Levi Lawlor was selected as the winner of Junior Eurovision Éire 2021. Draw Artist Song 1 Song 2 Result 01 Sophie Lennon "Circle of Life" "It's for You" Eliminated 02 Maiú Levi Lawlor "Hold Back the River" "Only Love Survives" Final duel 03 Lilyella Buckley "Someone You Loved" "Rock'n'Roll Kids" Final duel
+ Detailed jury voting results DrawArtistJury VotesTotal Linda Martin Niamh Ní Chróinín Fiachna Ó Braonáin1Lilyella BuckleyX12Maiú Levi LawlorXX2
+ Final duel Draw Artist SongVotes Result 01 Lilyella Buckley "Lost Without You" 1 Runner-up02 Maiú Levi Lawlor "Grace" 2 Winner
Song release Lawlor's song, " (Disappear)" () was released on 16 November 2021, along with a music video. It was written by Niall Mooney, Lauren White Murphy, Brendan McCarthy, LA Halvery, Junior Eurovision 2019 entrant Anna Kearney (who also provides backing vocals), Anna Banks and Cyprian Cassar, who wrote entries for Malta in , , 2021, and for Ireland in .
At Junior Eurovision After the opening ceremony, which took place on 13 December 2021, it was announced that Ireland would perform eighth on 19 December 2021, following Russia and preceding Armenia.
At the end of the contest, Ireland received 44 points, placing 18th out of 19 participating countries.
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 39 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 2 13 9 6 12 7 4 02 18 18 14 5 9 13 03 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 04 12 10 6 8 13 11 05 7 5 5 7 4 3 8 06 8 4 17 9 5 8 3 07 14 9 8 11 18 15 08 09 3 7 2 10 14 4 7 10 15 15 10 4 11 12 11 11 11 11 2 3 5 6 12 5 3 3 3 8 2 10 13 6 14 15 18 10 14 14 13 6 4 17 15 10 1 15 10 17 13 15 7 16 16 9 12 12 16 17 18 17 16 2 7 14 16 9 2 18 4 8 18 13 2 6 5 19 17 16 16 12 6 17
References