# Ireland in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015

Ireland selected their Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 entry through Junior Eurovision Éire. The competing songs were broken down into four semi-finals. On 23 March 2015 it was announced that Ireland would debut at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015.
Junior Eurovision Éire was won by Aimee Banks, who sang "Réalta na mara" for Ireland at the contest. She placed 12th with 36 points.

## Before Junior Eurovision
### Junior Eurovision Éire

The jury members in the first edition of Junior Eurovision Éire were Stiofán Ó Fearail (singer, songwriter, musician and television presenter), Niamh Kavanagh (singer, Eurovision Song Contest 1993 winner), and Brian Kennedy (singer, Irish representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006).

#### Semi-final 1

| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Result |
| 1 | Lisa-Rose McMahon | "Bris amach" | Lisa-Rose McMahon, Brendan McCaughey, Carmel McGivney | Final Duel |
| 2 | Jessica Doolan | "Mise sa todhchaí" | Jessica Doolan, Hugh Doolan | Eliminated |
| 3 | David Kennedy | "Fuar" | David Kennedy, Emma O'Reilly | Final Duel |
| 4 | Eva Roantree | "Geallaim duit" | Eva Roantree, Gary Burke | Eliminated |
| 5 | Eva Campbell | "I mo fhéileacán" | Eva Campbell, Leo Capper | Eliminated |
| 6 | Katie O’Donoghue | "Síscéal" | Katie O'Donghue, Elsa Joyce, Jamie O'Donoghue, Ruby Fairclough | Eliminated |
| 7 | Amy Meehan | "Gan tú" | Amy Meehan, Tommy Conway, Geraldine Galligan | Eliminated |
| 8 | Ellen McAteer | "Dubh agus bán" | Ellen McAteer | Eliminated |
| Artist | Song | S. Ó Fearail | N. Kavanagh | B. Kennedy | Votes | Result |
| David Kennedy | "Fuar" | X | | X | 2 | Advanced |
| Lisa-Rose McMahon | "Bris amach" | | X | | 1 | Eliminated |

#### Semi-final 2

| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Result |
| 1 | Aimee Banks | "Réalta na mara" | Aimee Banks, Niall Mooney, Jonas Gladnikoff, Brendan McCarthy | Final Duel |
| 2 | Na Cork Rappers | "Is maith liom é" | Na Cork Rappers, GMC Beats, Webwise, YWIC | Eliminated |
| 3 | Ellie Power | "Mo ghrá" | Ellie Power | Eliminated |
| 4 | Kelly Irwin | "Fíor chairde" | Kelly Irwin, Greg French | Final Duel |
| 5 | Ashley Tubridy | "Múr samhraidh" | Ashley Tubridy | Eliminated |
| 6 | Ruby Buckley | "Síocháin" | Ruby Buckley, Ylva Persson, Linda Persson | Eliminated |
| 7 | Ellie Quinlan | "Ag taisteal an domhain" | Ellie Quinlan | Eliminated |
| 8 | Maude Adams | "Dubh ’is gorm" | Maude Adams | Eliminated |
| Artist | Song | S. Ó Fearail | B. Kennedy | Votes | Result |
| Aimee Banks | "Réalta na mara" | X | X | 2 | Advanced |
| Kelly Irwin | "Fíor chairde" | | | 0 | Eliminated |

#### Semi-final 3

| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Result |
| 1 | Aislí Moran | "Aisling" | Aislí Moran, Greg French, Miss Ali | Final Duel |
| 2 | Muireann Vaughan | "Miongháire" | Muireann Vaughan | Final Duel |
| 3 | Adam Moloney | "Lá ámháin" | Adam Moloney | Eliminated |
| 4 | Aoibhín Walsh | "Féileacán i mo shaol" | Aoibhín Walsh, Brendan Keeley | Eliminated |
| 5 | Rachel Galvin | "Bhíomar i ngrá" | Rachel Galvin, Dearbhla Collins | Eliminated |
| 6 | Revolutionary | "Splancacha" | Ellen McGroary, Aoife Breslin, Síofra Mauerhofer, Aoibhín Woods | Eliminated |
| 7 | Leah Kavanagh | "Tusa agus mise" | Leah Kavanagh, Daire McGabhann, Áine Mulvey, Natasha Senanayake | Eliminated |
| 8 | Amy Scollard | "Grá go deo" | Amy Scollard, Elaine McCabe Cudden | Eliminated |
| Artist | Song | S. Ó Fearail | N. Kavanagh | B. Kennedy | Votes | Result |
| Aislí Moran | "Aisling" | | | X | 1 | Eliminated |
| Muireann Vaughan | "Miongháire" | X | X | | 2 | Advanced |

#### Semi-final 4

| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Result |
| 1 | Zena Donnelly | "I d’aonair" | Zena Donnelly | Final Duel |
| 2 | Sophie Halligan | "Caillte gan tú" | Sophie Halligan, Paddy Reilly | Final Duel |
| 3 | Sceitimíní | "Sé seo mo ghuí" | Sceitimíní, Blue Ribbon Arts | Eliminated |
| 4 | Paddy Heneghan | "Rún" | Paddy Heneghan, Kate Heneghan, Art O’Suilleabhan | Eliminated |
| 5 | Katie Ball | "Ag damhsa liomsa" | Katie Ball, Greg French | Eliminated |
| 6 | Jane Breathnach | "An chéad uair" | Jane Breathnach, Kevin Breathnach, Billy Larkin | Eliminated |
| 7 | Lillie Foley | "Tóg mó lámh" | Lillie Foley, Flossie Plain | Eliminated |
| 8 | Olivia Emade | "Seo í an oíche" | Olivia Emade, Michael English | Eliminated |
| Artist | Song | S. Ó Fearail | N. Kavanagh | B. Kennedy | Votes | Result |
| Sophie Halligan | "Caillte gan tú" | | X | | 1 | Eliminated |
| Zena Donnelly | "I d’aonair" | X | | X | 2 | Advanced |

##### Final

Along with the winners from the four heats, two wildcard acts were entered into the final. They were Lisa-Rose McMahon who came second in week 1 and Aislí Moran who came second in week 3. For the final, a sing-off was introduced between the top two contenders.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
| 1 | Zena Donnelly | "I d’aonair" | Final Duel |
| 2 | Lisa-Rose McMahon | "Bris amach" | Eliminated |
| 3 | Muireann Vaughan | "Miongháire" | Eliminated |
| 4 | Aimee Banks | "Réalta na mara" | Final Duel |
| 5 | David Kennedy | "Fuar" | Eliminated |
| 6 | Aislí Moran | "Aisling" | Eliminated |
| Draw | Artist | Song | S. Ó Fearail | N. Kavanagh | B. Kennedy | Votes |
| 1 | Aimee Banks | "Réalta na mara" | X | X | | 2 |
| 2 | Zena Donnelly | "I d’aonair" | | | X | 1 |

## Artist and song information
### Aimee Banks

Aimee Banks (born 14 February 2002) is a young soprano from Moycullen, in County Galway. She represented Ireland in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with "Réalta na Mara", (lit. Star of the sea), a song which she co-wrote and composed with Niall Mooney, Jonas Gladnikoff and Brendan McCarthy.

### Réalta na Mara

"Réalta na Mara" (English: Star of the Sea) is a song performed by Aimee Banks, which represented Ireland in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015, placing 12th in a field of 17 countries.

## At Junior Eurovision

At the running order draw which took place on 15 November 2015, Ireland were drawn to perform seventh on 21 November 2015, following Australia and preceding Russia.

### Final

The staging consisted of a deep purple background with a multitude of stars. The 'star of the sea' also appeared in bright light towards the end of the song. The other important notice was that the waves in the sea behind Aimee were less rough, becoming as the song progressed to match with the lyrics. The stage for the performance was covered in dry ice, giving a mystical effect to the performance.
At the end of the voting, Ireland finished 12th with 36 points.

### Voting

The voting during the final consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was 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 individual rankings of each jury member were released one month after the final.
Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Ireland had placed 10th with the public televote and 14th with the jury vote. In the public vote, Ireland scored 43 points, while with the jury vote, Ireland scored 19 points.
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Ireland and awarded by Ireland in the final and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the final.

#### Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the Irish jury:
* Caitríona Ní Cheannabáin
* Gearóid Ó Murchú
* Aoife Scott
* Morgan Cooke
* Keith Ó Briain