Prior to the 2024 contest, Ireland had participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest eight times since its debut in 2015;[2] TG4 originally intended to make their debut a year earlier, but required funding from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI), which was rejected.[3] Ireland first entered the top ten in 2016, when Zena Donnelly represented the country with "Bríce ar bhríce" and ended up in 10th place out of 17 entries with 122 points; this would remain as Ireland's only top ten entry and its best result until 2022,[4] when Sophie Lennon represented it with the song "Solas" and finished 4th with 150 points.[5] In 2023, Jessica McKean competed for Ireland with the song "Aisling", which contained uncredited live vocals from the aforementioned Lennon and ended up in 16th (last) place with 42 points; this marked the first last place result for Ireland.[6]
Unlike the Irish participation in the adult contest, which is managed by the Irish national broadcaster, Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the responsibility of broadcasting the Junior Eurovision Song Contest within Ireland and organising the selection of the nation's entry falls on TG4, which broadcasts exclusively in the Irish language.[7]
Before Junior Eurovision
Junior EurovisionÉire2024
TG4 confirmed its intention to participate in the 2024 contest on 5 March 2024, also revealing that it would once again use the national selection format Junior Eurovision Éire2024, co-produced with Adare Productions, to select its artist, and opened the submission process for interested artists aged between nine and fourteen.[7][8] Changes to the format of Junior Eurovision Éire2024 were also announced, such as lowering the number of competitors to ten.[9] Filming for the selection commenced in Dublin in early June 2024.[10]
Further details of the competition were announced during the show's first episode on 15 September 2024. Louise Cantillon returned to host the show for the fourth time in a row. Niamh Ní Chróinín also returned as one of the two permanent judges.
Participants
The ten participants competing in the 2024 edition were revealed at the end of the first show:
Kiefer Byrne
Enya Cox Dempsey
Safiya Devlin
Robin Doyle
Harry Greaney
Katelyn Harrington
Charlotte Mackey
Isla McManus
Abiha Mansoor
Lottie O’Driscoll Murray
Jury members
As in previous editions, the results of the live shows were decided by an in-studio jury of two permanent members and revolving guest judges. The two permanent judges are:
Niamh Ní Chróinín – Radio presenter, manager of Irish-language youth radio station Raidió Rí-Rá
The second show was broadcast on 22 September 2024, with Brooke Scullion as the guest judge. Unlike in previous years, rather than contestants compete in heats for a ticket to the semi-final, all ten finalists performed in the first show with two being eliminated from the competition. The show consisted of all ten artists performing Irish-language covers of popular songs. Safiya Devlin and Harry Greaney did not advance, while the remaining eight contestants progressed to the next round.[11]
The third show was broadcast on 29 September 2024, with Niamh Kavanagh as the guest judge. The remaining eight artists performed with another two being eliminated from the competition. The show consisted of all eight artists performing Irish-language covers of popular songs. Kiefer Byrne and Robyn Doyle did not advance to the next round, while the remaining six contestants progressed to the semi-final.[12]
The fourth show was broadcast on 6 October 2024, with Sophie Lennon as the guest judge. The remaining six artists performed with three contestants being eliminated from the competition. The show consisted of all six artists performing Irish-language covers of popular songs. Katelyn Harrington, Charlotte Mackay and Abiha Mansoor did not advance, while the final three contestants qualified for the final.[13]
The fifth and final show took place on 13 October 2024, with Linda Martin as the guest judge. First, the remaining three finalists performed an Irish-language cover of a popular song from the previous weeks, and then performed a cover of a famous Eurovision song.[14] After revealing Enya Cox Dempsey and Lottie O’Driscoll Murray as the top 2, they performed their rendition of the 2024 Irish entry "Le chéile". Enya Cox Dempsey was later revealed as the winner chosen by the jury, earning the right to represent Ireland at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Madrid.[15]
Show 5 – 13 October 2024
Artist
Draw
Song (Song from the series)
Draw
Song (Eurovision cover)
Result
Lottie O’Driscoll Murray
1
"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" (Jennifer Holliday)
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024 is set to take place at Caja Mágica in Madrid, Spain on 16 November 2024. Ireland will perform 16th of 17 participating countries, following Portugal and preceding Malta.[16]
Voting
The same voting system that was introduced in the 2017 edition will be used, where the results will be determined by 50% online voting and 50% jury voting. Every country has a national jury that consists of three music industry professionals and two children aged between 10 and 15 who are citizens of the country they represent. The rankings of those jurors are combined to make an overall top ten.[17]
The online voting consists of two phases. The first phase of the online voting will begin on 15 November 2024 when a recap of all the rehearsal performances is shown on the contest's website 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 end on 16 November at 17:59 CET. The second phase of the online voting will take place during the live show and begin right after the last performance and will be open for 15 minutes. International viewers will be able vote for three songs.[18] They will also be able to 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 10% of the votes, it will receive 10% of the available points.
