Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988

Ireland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1988 with the song "Take Him Home", written by Peter Eades, and performed by Jump the Gun. The Irish participating broadcaster, Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), selected its entry through a national final. In addition, RTÉ was also the host broadcaster and staged the event at the RDS Simmonscourt Pavilion in Dublin, after winning the previous edition with the song "Hold Me Now" by Johnny Logan.

Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988
Eurovision Song Contest 1988
Participating broadcaster	Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ)
Country	Ireland
Selection process	Eurosong '88
Selection date	6 March 1988
Competing entry
Song	"Take Him Home"
Artist	Jump the Gun
Songwriter	Peter Eades
Placement
Final result	8th, 79 points
Participation chronology
◄1987 • 1988 • 1989►

Before Eurovision

Eurosong '88

Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ) held on 6 March 1988 at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin, the national final, Eurosong '88, hosted for the second year in succession by Marty Whelan (who would provide commentary for RTÉ's broadcast of the contest from 2000 onwards, although he did provided the television commentary once before, in 1987), and Maxi (who had represented Ireland in 1973 as a soloist, and again in 1981 as part of the group Sheeba). Eight songs competed in the event, and the winner was selected by a panel of twelve "experts", each of whom awarded each song a score from one to eight points. One member of the panel was Sandy Kelly who had represented Ireland in 1982 as a member of The Duskeys.

Liam Reilly would go on to represent Ireland in 1990 (finishing joint 2nd with France). Reilly would also compose the Irish entry in 1991.

Draw	Artist	Song	Points	Place
1	Tranz-Am	"Tearing Up My Heart"	44	7
2	Fabienne	"Dance to My Own Tune"	36	8
3	Timara Galassi	"Friends Forever"	58	5
4	Paul Duffy	"Stop Messin' Around"	70	3
5	Grace Dunne	"Tar Liom Anois"	53	6
6	Jump the Gun	"Take Him Home"	92	1
7	Liam Reilly	"Lifeline"	85	2
8	Leanne and Hotline	"In and Out of Love"	60	4

Detailed Jury Votes

Draw	Song	Kevin Sharkey	Sandy Kelly	Deke O'Brien	Maria Doyle	Michael O'Riordan	Olivia Treacy	Kevin Hough	Jane Cassidy	Alf McCarthy	Fiona Looney	Peter Collins	John Buckley	Total
1	"Tearing Up My Heart"	3	4	3	3	5	5	4	3	3	3	4	4	44
2	"Dance to My Own Tune"	3	2	2	4	4	4	3	3	2	2	4	3	36
3	"Friends Forever"	4	5	4	3	6	6	5	6	4	5	5	5	58
4	"Stop Messin' Around"	5	7	5	5	8	8	7	4	5	5	5	6	70
5	"Tar Liom Anois"	5	4	6	2	5	4	4	5	4	4	6	4	53
6	"Take Him Home"	8	8	8	8	7	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	92
7	"Lifeline"	7	7	7	6	8	7	7	7	7	7	8	7	85
8	"In and Out of Love"	4	6	5	3	5	6	6	4	5	5	6	5	60

At Eurovision

"Take Him Home" was performed tenth in the running order on the night of the contest, following Switzerland and preceding Germany. At the close of the voting sequence, the song had received 79 points, placing eighth out of 21 songs.^[1]

Mike Murphy was providing the commentary for RTÉ 1 viewers, whilst Larry Gogan was commentating for listeners on RTÉ Radio 1. RTÉ appointed John Skehan as its spokesperson to announce the Irish jury's votes.^{[citation needed]}

Voting

Points awarded to Ireland[2] Score Country 12 points  Spain 10 points 8 points 7 points  Denmark  Germany  Norway  Sweden 6 points  Austria  Netherlands 5 points  Belgium  Portugal 4 points  France   Switzerland 3 points  United Kingdom 2 points  Finland  Turkey  Yugoslavia 1 point

Points awarded by Ireland[2] Score Country 12 points  Luxembourg 10 points   Switzerland 8 points  Norway 7 points  United Kingdom 6 points  Germany 5 points  Sweden 4 points  Denmark 3 points  Yugoslavia 2 points  Netherlands 1 point  Israel