Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song „Et Cetera“ written by Niall Mooney, Jonas Gladnikoff, Daniele Moretti and Christina Schilling. The song was performed by Sinéad Mulvey and Black Daisy. The Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) organised the national final Eurosong 2009 in order to select the Irish entry for the 2009 contest in Moscow, Russia. Six songs faced the votes of four regional juries and a public televote, ultimately resulting in the selection of „Et Cetera“ performed by Sinéad Mulvey & Black Daisy as the Irish Eurovision entry.
Ireland was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 14 May 2009. Performing during the show in position 2, „Et Cetera“ was not announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Ireland placed eleventh out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 52 points.
Eurosong 2009
Eurosong 2009 was the national final format developed by RTÉ in order to select Ireland’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. The competition was broadcast on RTÉ One as well as online via the broadcaster’s official website rte.ie during a special edition of The Late Late Show held on 20 February 2009 and hosted by Pat Kenny.
Competing entries
On 18 December 2008, RTÉ opened a submission period where artists and composers were able to submit their entries for the competition until 2 February 2009. At the closing of the deadline, over 300 entries were received. The competing entries were selected by a five-member jury panel with members appointed by RTÉ: singer and former contest winner Linda Martin, Universal Music Ireland director Mark Crossingham, agent and choreographer Julian Benson, Eurovision commentator Larry Gogan and OGAE Ireland president Diarmuid Furlong. The six finalists were announced on 13 February 2009 and the songs to be performed by the finalists were presented on 21 February 2009 during The Derek Mooney Show broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1.
Final
The national final featured commentary from a panel that consisted of Eurovision commentator Marty Whelan, singer and former contest winner Linda Martin and talk show host Jerry Springer.Following the 50/50 combination of votes from four regional juries and public televoting in Ireland and Northern Ireland, „Et Cetera“ performed by Sinéad Mulvey & Black Daisy was selected as the winner.
Final – 20 February 2009
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Jury | Televote | Total | Place |
| 1 | M.N.A. | „Flying“ | Ronan McCormack | 15 | 8 | 23 | 6 |
| 2 | Laura-Jayne Hunter | „Out of Control“ | Derry O’Donovan | 9 | 32 | 41 | 3 |
| 3 | Lee Bradshaw | „So What“ | Billy Larkin, Kevin Breathnach | 10 | 16 | 26 | 4 |
| 4 | Johnny Brady | „Amazing“ | Tony Adams Rosa | 20 | 4 | 24 | 5 |
| 5 | Kristīna Zaharova | „I Wish I Could Pretend“ | Lauris Reiniks, Gordon Pogoda | 32 | 24 | 56 | 2 |
| 6 | Sinéad Mulvey and Black Daisy | „Et Cetera“ | Niall Mooney, Jonas Gladnikoff, Daniele Moretti, Christina Schilling | 38 | 40 | 78 | 1 |
Gallery
