Ireland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1969 with the song "The Wages of Love", written by Michael Reade, and performed by Muriel Day and the Lindsays. The Irish participating broadcaster, Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), selected its entry through a national final, which was won by "The Wages of Love" performed by Muriel Day. Joined by the Lindsays, the song finished 7th place with 10 points in Eurovision.[1]
Before Eurovision
National Song Contest
Competing Entries
RTÉ opened a submission period for composers to submit songs between 6 November 1968 and 1 January 1969. Composers had to be Irish-born or live in Ireland and could only submit a maximum of two songs each.[2] RTÉ received 560 submissions and selected 8 songs from the received submissions and then assigned artists to those songs.[3][4]
Final
The fifth National Song Contest was held on Sunday 16 February 1969 from the RTÉ studios in Dublin and was broadcast on RTÉ Television, and hosted by Brendan O'Reilly. The winning song was decided by 10 regional juries throughout Ireland.[5]
The fifth National Song Contest is notable for featuring all four of Ireland's previous representatives (Butch Moore, Dickie Rock, Sean Dunphy, and Pat McGeegan), as well as the 1969 representative (Muriel Day) and the future 1970 representative (Dana).
