| Year: | 1998 |
| Country: | Ireland |
| Preselection: | Eurosong 1998 |
| Preselection Date: | 8 March 1998 |
| Entrant: | Dawn Martin |
| Song: | Is Always Over Now? |
| Final Result: | 9th, 64 points |
Dawn Martin represented Ireland in the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Is Always Over Now?".
'Réalta' was a radio song contest started in 1995 by RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltacht exclusively for Irish songs. The first edition of the contest was not related to Eurosong, but from 1996 until 1999, the recent winner of Réalta would qualify to Eurosong. The 4th edition of Réalta took place on 31 December 1997.[1] [2] [3] The running order and results of Réalta '98 are unknown.
| Artist | Song | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alan Milligan | "Caipín bán" | - | |
| Art Ó Dufaigh | "Céim ar chéim" | - | |
| Brendan Monaghan | "Fonn sin i mo cheann" | - | |
| Caitriona McDermott | "Eist go fóill" | - | |
| Cathal Ó Cathain | "Lúrabóg larabóg" | - | |
| Deirdre Ní Chinnéide | "Seo chugainn an samradh" | - | |
| Diane Ní Chanainn | "Sráideacha" | - | |
| Melanie O'Reilly | "Chugat an púca" | - | |
| Micheál Ó hAlluráin | "Galar an cheoil" | - | |
| Seán Monaghan | "Ina measc" | 1 |
Eurosong 1998 was held at the RTÉ Television Centre in Dublin on 8 March 1998 and hosted by Pat Kenny. 400 entries were submitted for the competition and eight artists and songs were selected to compete.[4] Votes from ten regional juries determined the winner and after the combination of votes, "Is Always Over Now?" performed by Dawn Martin was selected as the winner.[5]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Points | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dawn Martin | "Is Always Over Now?" | Gerry Morgan | 95 | 1 | |
| 2 | Partners in Crime | "Shine On" | Niall O'Brien-Moran | 63 | 5 | |
| 3 | Ray Doherty | "Cold Shoulder" | Ray Doherty | 39 | 8 | |
| 4 | The Vard Sisters | "Seol" | Liam Lawton | 92 | 2 | |
| 5 | Family | "Save This Dance for Me" | Danny Sheerin, Des Sheerin | 57 | 6 | |
| 6 | Seán Monaghan | "Ina measc" | Sean Monagahan | 43 | 7 | |
| 7 | The Carter Twins | "Make the Change" | Ronan Keating | 77 | 4 | |
| 8 | Jo Collins | "Overload" | Jo Collins | 84 | 3 |
| + Detailed Regional Jury Votes | |||||||||||||
| Draw | Song | Athlone | Cork | Dingle | Dublin | Dundalk | Galway | Limerick | Maghery | Sligo | Waterford | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Is Always Over Now?" | 12 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 95 | |
| 2 | "Shine On" | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 63 | |
| 3 | "Cold Shoulder" | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 39 | |
| 4 | "Seol" | 7 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 92 | |
| 5 | "Save This Dance for Me" | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 57 | |
| 6 | "Ina measc" | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 43 | |
| 7 | "Make the Change" | 10 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 77 | |
| 8 | "Overload" | 8 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 84 |
Dawn performed 13th in the running order on the night of the contest. Paul Harrington, who won the contest for Ireland in 1994, performed backing vocals. "Is Always Over Now?" went on to place 9th with 64 points.[6]