Along with the announcement that Murray would represent Ireland on 16 December, RTÉ opened a song submission period where composers were able to submit their entries until 16 January 2017. At the closing of the deadline, 330 songs were received. The song to be performed by Murray was selected by Walsh and a jury panel with members appointed by RTÉ: Linda Martin (Eurovision 1992 winner), Niamh Kavanagh (Eurovision 1993 winner), Michael Kealy (Irish Head of Delegation at the Eurovision Song Contest), Dympna Clerkin (Irish Assistant Head of Delegation at the Eurovision Song Contest), Jim Sheridan (musician) and Patrick Hughes (Sony Music Ireland representative). On 10 March 2017, the song, "Dying to Try", was released and uploaded on YouTube. The song was written by Jörgen Elofsson and James Newman.