# Ireland in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Ireland participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017, which took place on 26 November 2017, in Tbilisi, Georgia. The Irish broadcaster TG4 is responsible for organising their entry for the contest through a national selection show entitled Junior Eurovision Éire. The national final took place on 19 November 2017, while the semifinals took place between 22 October and 12 November. This was Ireland's third appearance at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

## Background

Prior to the 2017 Contest, Ireland had participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest twice since its debut in 2015. TG4 previously attempted to participate at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014, but required funding from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI), which was rejected.

## Before Junior Eurovision

The Irish broadcaster was included in the final list of participants of the EBU, which revealed that they would be participating at Junior Eurovision for the third time in their history. The mechanism for selecting their entrant and song was through the national selection show Junior Eurovision Éire, like in their two other appearances. The selection process is scheduled to take place every Sunday starting on 22 October, where thirty-two participants competed, and culminated into a final which took place on 19 November 2017.

### Jury members

TG4 published details on the names of the professional jury who would determine the winner of the Junior Eurovision Éire 2017 and the representative for Ireland at the 2017 contest in November. They had all represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest at least once in their careers.
| Artist | ESC Year(s) | Song(s) | Place (semi-final) | Points (semi-final) | Place (final) | Points (final) |
| Linda Martin | 1984 | "Terminal 3" | No semi-finals | No semi-finals | 2 | 137 |
| Linda Martin | 1992 | "Why Me?" | No semi-finals | No semi-finals | 1 | 155 |
| Niamh Kavanagh | 1993 | "In Your Eyes" | No semi-finals | No semi-finals | 1 | 187 |
| Niamh Kavanagh | 2010 | "It's for You" | 9 | 67 | 23 | 25 |
| Brian Kennedy | 2006 | "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" | 10 | 93 | 10 | 79 |
| Dustin the Turkey | 2008 | "Irelande Douze Pointe" | 15 | 22 | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify |
| Jedward | 2011 | "Lipstick" | 8 | 68 | 8 | 119 |
| Jedward | 2012 | "Waterline" | 6 | 92 | 19 | 46 |
| Brendan Murray | 2017 | "Dying to Try" | 13 | 86 | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify |
The judging panel consisted of Fiachna Ó Braonáin and Bláthnaid Tracey, as well as a different guest judge each week.

## Junior Eurovision Éire
### Semi Final 1

The first semi final took place on 22 October 2017, in which Brendan Murray and Dustin the Turkey were the guest judges.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
| 01 | Muireann McDonnell | "Súile Glasa" | Final Duel |
| 02 | Hayley Keogh | "Is Cuimhin Liom" | Eliminated |
| 03 | Junior Sensation | "Can Os Ard" | Eliminated |
| 04 | Judy Langan | "Draíocht An Cheoil" | Final Duel, Wildcard |
| 05 | Rachel Haughney | "Táim Níos Láidre" | Eliminated |
| 06 | Kane Dunne | "Ar Chuala Tú" | Eliminated |
| 07 | Eloise Judge | "Domhain Foirfe" | Eliminated |
| 08 | Amy Hehir | "Féileacán I Mo Chroí" | Eliminated |
Muireann McDonnell and Judy Langan both advanced to the final duel stage and performed their songs for the second time. After their second performances, the jury members selected Muireann McDonnell as the winner of semifinal 1 and advanced to the grand final on 19 November 2017. Judy Langan who lost the final duel received one of the two wildcards and advanced the final on 19 November 2017.

### Semi Final 2

The second semi final took place on 29 October 2017, in which Jedward were the guest judges.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
| 01 | Mini Mix | "Cairde Go Deo" | Wildcard |
| 02 | Gwanaelle Noval | "Lig Dom Lonrú" | Final Duel |
| 03 | Adria Gannon | "Sólás" | Eliminated |
| 04 | Róise Devlin | "Anonn agus Anall" | Eliminated |
| 05 | Aoife Goodson | "Diamaint" | Final Duel |
| 06 | Cailín Ní Thréinir | "Ní Mhaireann Aon Rud Go Deo" | Eliminated |
| 07 | Adam O'Connor | "Do Lá Úrnua É" | Eliminated |
| 08 | Chloe Winters | "Cá Bhfuil Tú Anois?" | Eliminated |
Gwanaelle Noval and Aoife Goodson both advanced to the final duel stage and performed their songs for the second time. After their second performances, the jury members selected Gwanaelle Noval as the winner of semifinal 2 and advanced to the grand final on 19 November 2017. Mini Mix who was eliminated in Semi Final 2 but received one of the 2 Wildcards and proceeded to the Final.

### Semi Final 3

The second semi final took place on 5 November 2017, in which Dustin the Turkey and Brian Kennedy were the guest judges.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
| 01 | Úna Ní Mhistéil | "Álainn" | Final Duel |
| 02 | Cúigear Ceolmhar | "I Mochroí" | Eliminated |
| 03 | Holly Owens | "Saoirse" | Final Duel |
| 04 | Annie Bolger | "Éire Álainn" | Eliminated |
| 05 | Nutsa Bidzishvili | "An Bháisteach" | Eliminated |
| 06 | Logan McConnon | "Slán Leat" | Eliminated |
| 07 | Cathleen Garland | "A Ghrá Mo Chroí" | Eliminated |
| 08 | Ciara Doherty | "Tá Mé Anseo" | Eliminated |
Úna Ní Mhistéil and Holly Owens both advanced to the final duel stage and performed their songs for the second time. After their second performances, the jury members selected Úna Ní Mhistéil as the winner of semifinal 3 and advanced to the grand final on 19 November 2017.

### Semi Final 4

The second semi final took place on 12 November 2017, in which Niamh Kavanagh was the guest judge.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
| 01 | Sinéad Carr | "Cén Fáth" | Final Duel |
| 02 | Walter McCabe | "Saor" | Eliminated |
| 03 | Orla McDermott | "Cairdeas" | Final Duel |
| 04 | Ella Pepper | "Ach Eolas Ar Ár nDuchas" | Eliminated |
| 05 | Nessa Markham | "Mamó" | Eliminated |
| 06 | Jirat O'Neill | "Spraoi As An Saol" | Eliminated |
| 07 | Olivia Foley | "Cróga" | Eliminated |
| 08 | Leah Keenam | "Táim Láidir | Eliminated |
Sinéad Carr and Orla McDermott both advanced to the final duel stage and performed their songs for the second time. After their second performances, the jury members selected Sinéad Carr as the winner of semifinal 4 and advanced to the grand final on 19 November 2017.

### Final

The grand final took place on 19 November 2017, in which Linda Martin was the guest judge.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
| 01 | Úna Ní Mhistéil | "Álainn" | Eliminated |
| 02 | Muireann McDonnell | "Súile Glasa" | Final Duel |
| 03 | Mini Mix | "Cairde Go Deo" | Eliminated |
| 04 | Sinéad Carr | "Cén Fáth?" | Eliminated |
| 05 | Gwenaelle Noval | "Lig Dom Lonrú" | Final Duel |
| 06 | Judy Langan | "Draoícht an Cheoil" | Eliminated |

#### Final Duel

For the final, a sing-off was introduced between the top two contenders.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
| 01 | Muireann McDonnell | "Súile Glasa" | Winner |
| 02 | Gwenaelle Noval | "Lig Dom Lonrú" | Runner-up |
Gwenaelle Noval and Muireann McDonnell were chosen by the judging panel to advance to the final duel. Muireann received the majority of votes from the panel and was awarded the Irish ticket to Tbilisi.

## At Junior Eurovision

During the opening ceremony and the running order draw which took place on 20 November 2017, Ireland was drawn to perform seventh on 26 November 2017, following Portugal and preceding Macedonia.

### Voting

In 2017, a new voting system was introduced, in which the results were determined by 50% online voting and 50% jury voting. Every country had a national jury that consisted of three music industry professionals and two children aged between 10 and 15 who were citizens of the country they represented. The rankings of those jurors were combined to make an overall top ten.
The online voting consisted of two phases. The first phase of the online voting began on 24 November 2017 when a recap of all the rehearsal performances was shown on the contest's website Junioreurovision.tv before the viewers could vote. After this, voters also had the option to watch longer one-minute clips from each participant's rehearsal. This first round of voting ended on Sunday 26 November at 15:59 CET. The second phase of the online voting took place during the live show and began right after the last performance and was open for 15 minutes. International viewers were able vote for a minimum of three and a maximum of five songs. They were also able to vote for their own country's song. These votes were then turned into points which were determined by the percentage of votes received. For example, if a song received 10% of the votes, it received 10% of the available points.