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, (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 with the song "Hold Me Now" by Johnny Logan.
Before Eurovision
Eurosong '88 (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 as a soloist, and again 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 as a member of The Duskeys.
Liam Reilly would go on to represent (finishing joint 2nd with France). Reilly would also compose the Irish entry . 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 Song scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" Total 1 "Tearing Up My Heart"34335543334444 2 "Dance to My Own Tune"32244433224336 3 "Friends Forever"45436656455558 4 "Stop Messin' Around"57558874555670 5 "Tar Liom Anois"54625445446453 6 "Take Him Home"88887888877792 7 "Lifeline"77768777778785 8 "In and Out of Love"46535664556560
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.
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.
Voting
+ Points awarded to Ireland Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
+ Points awarded by Ireland Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
References