Ireland in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019
Ireland participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019, held in Gliwice, Poland, with the song "Banshee" performed by Anna Kearney. The singer was selected though a national final organized by TG4 that between September 1st and October 6th. The song was selected internally after Anna Kearney had been selected. This was Ireland's fifth appearance at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
Background
Prior to the 2019 Contest, Ireland had participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest four 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, which was rejected.In the 2018 contest, Taylor Hynes represented country in Minsk, Belarus with the song "IOU". He ended 15th out of 20 entries with 48 points.
''Junior Eurovision Éire''
Heat 1
The participants in heat 1 were revealed on 26 August 2019, with the episode airing on 1 September.| Draw | Artist | Song | Result | Number of stars |
| 01 | Anna Kearney | "Symphony" | Final Duel | 25 |
| 02 | Mollie Kennedy | "Stay with Me" | Eliminated | 22 |
| 03 | Aoife McNelis | "Always" | Final Duel | 24 |
| 04 | Arabella Dolan | "Take Me to Church" | Semi-Final | 26 |
| 05 | Ciara McShane | "Take My Hand" | Eliminated | 18 |
| 06 | Joya & Priya | "Wake Me Up" | Eliminated | 21 |
| 07 | Riaghan Boardman | "Shotgun" | Eliminated | 19 |
Anna Kearney and Aoife McNelis both advanced to the final duel stage and performed their covers a second time. After their second performances, the jury members selected Anna as the winner of this episode, while Arabella was selected to advance to the semi-final.
Heat 2
The participants for heat 2 were revealed on 7 September 2019.| Draw | Artist | Song | Result | Number of stars |
| 01 | Caoimhe McBride | "September Song" | Final Duel | 23 |
| 02 | Alison McGrath | "Ghost" | Semi-Final | 28 |
| 03 | Sophie Whelan | "Speeding Cars" | Eliminated | 22 |
| 04 | Katie Healy | "Feel It Again" | Final Duel | 25 |
| 05 | Nikki Little | "Illuminate" | Eliminated | 19 |
| 06 | Rachel Kennedy | "Shape of You" | Eliminated | 20 |
| 07 | Cairde Ceolmhaire | "Catch & Release" | Eliminated | 19 |
Caoimhe McBride and Katie Healy both advanced to the final duel stage and performed their covers a second time. After their second performances, the jury members selected Caoimhe as the winner of this episode, while Alison was selected to advance to the semi-final.
Heat 3
The participants for heat 3 were revealed on 13 September 2019.| Draw | Artist | Song | Result | Number of stars |
| 01 | Seisear Séieseach | "When We Were Young" | Final Duel | 25 |
| 02 | Grace Lauhoff | "Thinking Out Loud" | Eliminated | 22 |
| 03 | Katie O'Connor | "Counting to Sleep" | Eliminated | 23 |
| 04 | Lauren Doherty | "IDGAF" | Eliminated | 22 |
| 05 | Isabelle Moore | "Falling Slowly" | Final Duel | 24 |
| 06 | Savannah Phoenix-Munroe | "Lullaby" | Semi-Final | 26 |
| 07 | Daniel Ryan | "Nervous" | Eliminated | 21 |
Seisear Séieseach and Isabelle Moore both advanced to the final duel stage and performed their covers a second time. After their second performances, the jury members selected Seisear as the winner of this episode, while Savannah was selected to advance to the semi-final.
Heat 4
The participants for heat 4 were revealed on 22 September 2019.| Draw | Artist | Song | Result | Number of stars |
| 01 | Skye Murphy Darrer | "Chandelier" | Final Duel | 27 |
| 02 | Molly Verider-Cassidy | "The Cup Song" | Eliminated | 23 |
| 03 | Orla McDermott | "Linger" | Semi-Final | 30 |
| 04 | Fionn and Roisin Vigors | "Teenage Dirtbag" | Eliminated | 21 |
| 05 | Rachel Hoey | "We Couldn't Fake It" | Eliminated | 20 |
| 06 | Rebecca Cronin | "Perfect" | Final Duel | 25 |
| 07 | Sophie Bao Garrahy | "I Won't Worry" | Eliminated | 23 |
Skye Murphy Darrer and Rebecca Cronin both advanced to the final duel stage and performed their covers a second time. After their second performances, the jury members selected Skye as the winner of this episode, while Orla was selected to advance to the semi-final.
Semi-Final
The semi-final aired on 29 September 2019.| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
| 01 | Anna Kearney | "This Is Me" | Finalist |
| 02 | Alison McGrath | "Stay with Me" | Final Duel |
| 03 | Caoimhe McBride | "Waiting for Love" | Eliminated |
| 04 | Seisear Séiseach | "Pompeii" | Eliminated |
| 05 | Savannah Phoenix-Munroe | "Circle of Life" | Finalist |
| 06 | Arabella Dolan | "Friday I'm in Love" | Eliminated |
| 07 | Orla McDermott | "Hold Back the River" | Final Duel |
| 08 | Skye Murphy Darrer | "Shake It Off" | Eliminated |
Anna Kearney and Savannah Phoenix-Munroe were announced as the first two finalists. Alison McGrath 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 Orla as the last finalist.
Final
The final aired on 6 October 2019.| Draw | Artist | Heat/Semi-Final Song | Draw | ESC Winning Song | Result |
| 01 | Anna Kearney | "Symphony" | 04 | "Why Me?" | Final Duel |
| 02 | Orla McDermott | "Linger" | 05 | "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" | Eliminated |
| 03 | Savannah Phoenix-Munroe | "Circle of Life" | 06 | "Hold Me Now" | Final Duel |
;Final Duel
| Draw | Artist | Heat/Semi-Final Song | Result |
| 01 | Anna Kearney | "Symphony" | Winner |
| 02 | Savannah Phoenix-Munroe | "Circle of Life" | Eliminated |
Artist and song information
Anna Kearney
Anna Kearney is an Irish child singer. She represented Ireland at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Banshee".. She was born in Dublin, but she currently lives in Foxrock. Her mother, Eileen, was a performer in the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 as part of the interval act Riverdance. Shortly after the contest, Kearney opened the 2019 Late Late Toy ShowBanshee
"Banshee" is a song by Irish singer Anna Kearney. It represented Ireland at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019. After Anna Kearney had been selected to represent Ireland, TG4 contacted Niall Mooney and Jonas Gladnikoff, who had previously been responsible for the 2015 and 2018 Irish Junior Eurovision entries, to write the song. The song was also co-written by Cyprian Cassar and Daniel Caruana, with lyrics by Anna Banks, Fiachna Ó Braonáin as well as Anna Kearney.At Junior Eurovision
During the opening ceremony and the running order draw which both took place on 18 November 2019, Ireland was drawn to perform twelfth on 24 November 2019, following Poland and preceding Ukraine.Voting
The results of the 2019 Junior Eurovision Song Contest will be determined by national juries and an online audience vote. Every country will have a national jury that will consist of three music industry professionals and two kids aged between 10 and 15 who are citizens of the country they represent. This jury will be asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The first phase of the online voting will start on 22 November 2019 when a recap of all the rehearsal performances will be shown on junioreurovision.tv before the viewers can vote. After this, voters will also have the option to watch longer one-minute clips from each participant’s rehearsal. This first round of voting will stop on Sunday, 24 November, at 15:59 CET. The second phase of the online voting will take place during the live show and will start right after the last performance and will be open for 15 minutes. International viewers can vote for a minimum of three countries and a maximum of five. They can also vote for their own country’s song. These votes will then be turned into points which will be determined by the percentage of votes received. For example, if a song receives 20% of the votes, thus it will receive 20% of the available points. The public vote will count for 50% of the final result, while the other 50% will come from the professional juries.Points awarded to Ireland
- Ireland received 34 points from Online voting.
Points awarded by Ireland
| 12 points | |
| 10 points | |
| 8 points | |
| 7 points | |
| 6 points | |
| 5 points | |
| 4 points | |
| 3 points | |
| 2 points | |
| 1 point |