Ranking Ireland's winning Eurovision songs. Will record be broken by Sweden?

Extra.ie​

01-05-2025

Whether it's your first or 20th Eurovision, we must face facts: Ireland's long-standing record of seven wins is probably going to be broken this year.
What was once an incredible feat for the country has since been tied with the Swedes last year, with it being increasingly likely that they'll go back to back with KAJ and Bara bada bastu.
And while some (myself included) who grew up when we sent Jedward and Dustin the Turkey would balk at the idea that Ireland were once a powerhouse at the song contest, it's true; the Eurovision was a rare instance of us doing well at a competition on an international stage.
With that, we at Extra.ie have decided to take a trip down memory lane at what once was, and rank the seven songs we won the Eurovision Song Contest with. Being written by two time winner Johnny Logan, Linda Martin's second attempt at Eurovision kicked off the country's three-peat in 1992. Pic: Sipa/REX/Shutterstock
This isn't to say that this is the worst of the bunch, but the competition really is that stiff for Linda. And hey, some people even prefer her previous entrant in Terminal 3, which saw her place second nine years earlier.
Written by two-time winner Johnny Logan (much more on him later), the song 'only' got the coveted douze point from three countries, but kicked off the country's illustrious three-peat of Eurovision wins in the 1990s. So we have Linda to thank for that!
The first of three wins for Johnny Logan (two as a singer, one as a songwriter), What's Another Year was, in hindsight, foreshadowing to his further success.
But alas, this is the weaker of his two wins (I feel ye already know where his other song will end up…), but is still a cute song; and got 12 points seven times from the voters. 19-year-old Dana's song All Kings of Everything was sent to Eurovision in 1970, and the rest, as they say, is history. Pic: Keystone/Getty Images
Ye know I'm right!
Perhaps it's a generational gap, but aside from Dana's just raw talent as a singer (it's absolutely phenomenal that she did this at 19-years-old), this is one of those songs that you'll either love or find a bit boring. But again, Dana sang this, and the rest, as they say, is history.
If there's one thing the Eurovision apparently loved from Ireland, it was an auld ballad — and despite not having anyone to shop it due to the association with Eurovision, Niamh convinced a young Simon Cowell who released the song internationally.
With the song also being lauded as having 'lots of old fashioned qualities,' another fun fact is that the demo of the song was sung by a then unknown, young Idina Menzel. Yep, the original Elphaba helped Ireland win the Eurovision back to back. 1996 was the last time Ireland won the Eurovision, with Eimear Quinn being the last one to bring home the title for the country. Pic: Lehtikuva/Shutterstock
The last time we won the competition, and being the fourth time in five years that we won, Eimear Quinn's incredible vocal performance made this a bit of an underrated song in the grand scheme of things.
Often called a proper Celtic song, Eimear's vocal talent meant that we ran away with the then record shattering 7th win; with the country still waiting for an eighth nearly three decades. Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan got Ireland their second of the back-to-back-to-back wins — but were (kinda) overshadowed by the interval act: Riverdance. Pic: BSR Agency/Gentle Look via Getty Images
It was always going to be a toss up between this and 1st, but I think Paul and Charlie, while fantastic, being the second most talked about performance of Eurovision 1994 behind the interval performance, knocks a point off.
While Eurovision nowadays is all flashy and extravagant, there is something just brilliant about a song like this — no orchestra, no backing tracks, just a piano, guitar and two singers. And if you want to feel old, gigven the timeline of the song started 32 years before the year of the performance, if Rock n Roll Kids were released today it would start off in 1993. Jesus. Of course it was. Pic: Andres Poveda
Becoming the first act ever to win the contest twice (at least we'll always have that record), Johnny Logan's ballad was arguably Ireland's most successful Eurovision song outside of the contest — reaching the top 5 in the charts in 15 countries, being re-recorded twice, and even being the song used in the incredibly mid-200s McDonald's Eurosaver ad campaign.
While four ballads have won the competition for Ireland, Hold Me Now is absolutely the best of the best. And hey, put a dance beat behind it, and we could even take back that title. What do you say, Johnny? 2026?