Background
Ireland first entered the Eurovision Song Contest in 1965 and has since entered a total of 41 entries up to 2007 with its 42nd contribution in 2008.
Ireland has won the contest seven times in total, with no other country beating or equalling that record. The country's first win came in their sixth entry, in 1970, with then-18-year-old Dana winning with "All Kinds of Everything". Ireland holds the record for being the only country to win the country three times in a row (in 1992, 1993 and 1994), as well as having the only three-times winner (Johnny Logan, who won in 1980 as a singer, 1987 as a singer-songwriter, and again in 1992 as a songwriter). In recent years, however, Ireland's impressive record at Eurovision has taken a turn, with only two Top 10 results during the 2000s, and Ireland's first last place finish in 2007.
The Irish national broadcater, Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ) broadcasts the event each year and organizes the selection process for the selection its entry. Many methods of selection have been used, with the most common method used by RTÉ being a national final featuring a multi-artist, multi-song selection in which regional juries, and later the public, choosing the winner. In recent years the artist has sometimes been selected internally by RTÉ, with the song being chosen by the public, and previously a talent show format, You're a Star, was used between the years 2003 and 2005.
Read more about this topic: Ireland In The Eurovision Song Contest 2008
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