Politics, The Eurovision Song contest and Ireland

While the Eurovision Song Contest attests to be a non-political event, there are always strong political elements running through the different stages of this contest each year, whether it be issues to do with national song selections, the staging of the contest or the much discussed Eurovision voting patterns. This post will consider the politics of the contest with respect to Ireland’s participation in it. The political dimensions of the Eurovision Song Contest and Ireland’s involvement relate not only to voting patterns and this was evidenced in the relationship between the Dustin debacle of the 2008 Belgrade contest and the failure of the first referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, which followed hot on the heels of that high profile Eurovision failure as will be discussed later. In light of this, it is perhaps chastening to remember that the upcoming European referendum will take place days after this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Baku and consider whether a high profile Jedward loss in the semi final or a Jedward win could have a bearing on people’s intentions in the referendum! But first this post will look at the wider politics of the Eurovision and the different European countries that have been shaped by this.