We did it. In a sense…
Ryan O’Shaughnessy’s ‘Together’ racked up 136 points at the end of the day, a respectable score, cementing Ireland’s place as veterans of the Eurovision. Most importantly, we finished well ahead of the United Kingdom’s entry, which ended up on a rather paltry 48 points.
The UK clocked in just three from the bottom, as Israel ended up winning a tense final. As the public vote slowly rolled in, it was between Israel’s Netta and Cyprus’ Eleni Foureira… and Netta had the public on her side.
Austria had looked as though they were in with a fighting shout, following a jury vote that saw Ireland in the bottom-half. Despite a generous 10 points from the Czech Republic, Ireland couldn’t go any further than 16th this go around in Lisbon. Nevertheless, there’s plenty to be proud of. Ryan O’Shaughnessy acquitted himself magnificently, and comprehensively beat SuRie, the contestant from the United Kingdom. In the end, the UK finished just three places from the bottom.
Of course, there were extenuating circumstances in that case — SuRie was assailed halfway through her performance when a stage invader grabbed her microphone. She finished like a champ, but not enough to come anywhere close to beating our Ryan.
SuRie was offered a second chance to perform, but turned it down, saying she was proud of her original performance.
So, while Israel won it in the end, it was kind of like a moral victory for Ireland.
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