Ireland has participated in the Contest 56 times since its debut at the Eurovision Song Contest 1965 in Naples. It has participated in every subsequent Contest but two: the 1983 Contest in Munich due to financial problems from host broadcaster RTÉ and the 2002 Contest in Tallinn due to relagation. All but one of the country's entries have been in English; the exception is "Ceol an Ghrá", the 1972 entry, which was sung in Irish.
With seven wins over three decades, it remained the most successful country in the Contest until its record was equaled at the 2023 Contest by Sweden. It is one of the few who has not turned down the opportunity to host it the year following its win. All but one of these have been staged in the capital Dublin, when the 1993 Contest was held in Millstreet, a town with a population of 1,500 people in west County Cork, following Linda Martin's win in 1992. It is also the only country to win the Contest in three consecutive years (from 1992 to 1994). It has finished as runner up four times and the latter of these signalled its last appearance in the Top 5.
With the introduction of the semi finals in 2004, it has failed to qualify for the final eleven times, including a four consecutive year streak which ended in 2018 with Ryan O'Shaughnessy's qualification. It failed to qualify at the following editions courtesy of the song "22" performed by Sarah McTernan in Tel Aviv, which finished in last place in the second semi-final, in the 2021 Contest in Rotterdam with the song "Maps" performed by Lesley Roy, in the 2022 Contest in Turin with the song "That's Rich" by Brooke and in the 2023 Contest in Liverpool with the song "We Are One" by Wild Youth. It has also placed last twice in the final, receiving five points both times, at the 2007 Contest and 2013 Contest respectively.
It made its debut at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Sofia, finishing in 12th place. It has made a total of seven appearances to date with its best result coming at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Yerevan when the country finished in 4th place. They withdrew from competing at the 2020 Contest due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemlc and achieved their worst result to date when they finished in last place for the first time ever at the 2023 Contest in Nice.