Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1989

Eurovision Song Contest 1989
Country	Ireland
National selection
Selection process	National Final
Selection date(s)	12 March 1989
Selected entrant	Kiev Connolly & The Missing Passengers
Selected song	"The Real Me"
Finals performance
Final result	18th, 21 points
Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest

For the 1989 Eurovision Song Contest in Lausanne, the song "The Real Me," written, composed and performed by Kiev Connolly, was chosen to represent Ireland after it won the national final selection. Held on 12 March at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin, the national final was hosted by Ronan Collins. Eight songs competed in the event, and the winner was selected by twelve members of the public.^[1]

Draw	Song	Performer	Points	Rank
1	The Real Me	Kiev Connolly & The Missing Passengers	104	1st
2	"Easy"	Honor Heffernan	97	2nd
3	"This isn't War (It's Revolution)"	Nicola Kerr	79	3rd
4	"Uaigneach"	Barry Ronan	48	8th
5	"Here We Go"	Linda Martin	71	6th
6	"Angel Eyes"	Jenny Newman	77	5th
7	"Song for You"	Dave Lalor	68	7th
8	"It was Meant to Be"	Noelle	79	3rd

Nicola Kerr had represented Ireland in the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest, as a member of The Swarbriggs Plus Two. That entry, "It's Nice To Be In Love Again," came in third place behind France and the United Kingdom.

Linda Martin's appearance in the national final selection was her third time as a soloist, and her seventh overall. She was runner-up to Sweden in the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest, and would win the contest in 1992.

"The Real Me" was performed third in the running order on the night of the contest, following Israel and preceding Netherlands. At the close of the voting sequence, Ireland had received only 21 points, ranking them in a disappointing 18th place. At the time, this was Ireland's worst result in the contest, and would remain so until 2001.^[2]