Ireland will not take part in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Warsaw.
TG4 confirmed in an email to Eurovoix that they will not take part in Junior Eurovision 2020, despite originally confirming participation in January. The decision to withdraw was taken due to the current COVID-19 pandemic and restricitions on large gatherings of people and travel in place because of it. The Irish government publishes a Green List of countries that Irish citizens are able to travel to without needing to quarantine upon return to Ireland. Poland, the host country of this year’s contest, is currently not on the Green List.
TG4 have also stated that they hope to return to the contest in 2021.
Ireland were represented by Anna Kearney at the 2019 Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Gliwice, Poland. She placed 12th with her song “Banshee”.
Junior Eurovision 2020
Junior Eurovision 2020 is to be held on November 29 in the Polish capital of Warsaw. The competition is being hosted by the Polish public broadcaster TVP, after Viki Gabor took victory with the song “Superhero”. The show will be staged in a TV studio facility in Warsaw, not a large arena as has been seen in previous years.
To date, the following countries have confirmed participation in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Poland:
- Belarus
- France
- Germany
- Georgia
- Kazakhstan
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Russia
- Serbia
- Spain
- Ukraine
Image Source: JuniorEurovision.tv / Source: TG4
Ireland in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
Ireland debuted in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest at the 2015 contest in Sofia, Bulgaria. The countries participation is organised by the Irish language broadcaster, TG4. At the 2015 contest in Bulgaria Ireland was represented by Aimee Banks with the song “Réalta na Mara”, she finished 12th in the final. The country’s best result came at the 2016 contest in Malta. Ireland was represented by Zena Donnelly with the song “Bríce ar Bhríce”. She finished 10th in the final scoring a total of 122 points, including receiving the countries first 12 points in the contest.
It ‘s a sad dissension, but off cause I understand the reason why. I hope to see Ireland back in 2021