Ирландия на Евровидении 2006: Брайан Кеннеди и песня "Every Song Is a Cry for Love"

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Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" written and performed by Brian Kennedy, who was internally selected in November 2005 by the Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) to represent the nation at the 2006 contest in Athens, Greece. RTÉ organised the national final Eurosong 2006 to select the song that Kennedy would perform. Three songs faced a public televote, ultimately resulting in the selection of "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" as the Irish entry. Ireland competed in the semi final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 18 May 2006. Performing during the show in position 8, "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" was announced among the top 10 entries of the semi final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 20 May. It was later revealed that Ireland placed ninth out of the 23 participating countries in the semi final with 79 points. In the final, Ireland performed in position 21 and placed tenth out of the 24 participating countries, scoring 93 points.

Prior to the 2006 Contest, Ireland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty nine times since its first entry in 1965. Ireland has won the contest a record seven times in total. The country's first win came in 1970, with then 18 year old Dana winning with "All Kinds of Everything". Ireland holds the record for being the only country to win the contest three times in a row (in 1992, 1993 and 1994), as well as having the only three time winner (Johnny Logan, who won in 1980 as a singer, 1987 as a singer songwriter, and again in 1992 as a songwriter). The Irish entry in 2005, "Love?" performed by Donna and Joe, failed to qualify to the final and achieved Ireland's lowest position in the contest. The Irish national broadcaster, Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), broadcasts the event within Ireland and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. RTÉ confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest on 17 July 2005. From 2003 to 2005, RTÉ had set up the talent contest You're a Star to choose both the song and performer to compete at Eurovision for Ireland. For the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, RTÉ announced alongside their confirmation that You're a Star would not be used to choose the entry to represent Ireland at the contest, with executive producer of You're a Star Larry Bass stating that the contest "hasn't delivered in terms of what the Eurovision Song Contest has wanted".

The selection of "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" as the Irish entry provoked controversy after it was revealed that the song was submitted by Kennedy himself after the song submission deadline. IMRO publisher Johnny Lappin claimed that the jury responsible for choosing the four finalist songs had only reviewed less than 4% of all the song submissions as they were "overwhelmed with the volume of entries", and that RTÉ had influenced the final result by inviting the panellists to reveal their favorite song before the public were allowed to vote; all four panellists had tipped "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" to win. The broadcaster also offered those that voted for the winning song to enter a draw for a car, which Lappin believed might "prejudice the viewers into voting, not for the song they personally felt was the best but for the song most likely to win". In Ireland, the semi final and the final were broadcast on RTÉ One with commentary by Marty Whelan. The two shows were also broadcast via radio on RTÉ Radio 1 with commentary by Larry Gogan. The Irish spokesperson, who announced the Irish votes during the final, was former contest winner Eimear Quinn.

Brian Kennedy took part in technical rehearsals on 11 and 13 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 17 and 18 May. The Irish performance, which was also the 1000th song performed in Eurovision history, featured Brian Kennedy dressed in a black suit and joined on stage by four backing vocalists, three of them located at the right side of the stage with the remaining one located at the left side of the stage and also played the guitar: Calum McColl, Fran King, Paula Gilbert and Una Healy. At the end of the show, Ireland was announced as having finished in the top 10 and consequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Ireland placed ninth in the semi final, receiving a total of 79 points.

Shortly after the semi final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine the running order for the final and Ireland was drawn to perform in position 21, following the entry from Croatia and before the entry from Sweden. Brian Kennedy once again took part in dress rehearsals on 19 and 20 May before the final. Brian Kennedy performed a repeat of his semi final performance during the final on 20 May. Ireland placed tenth in the final, scoring 93 points.

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Ireland and awarded by Ireland in the semi final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Lithuania in the semi final and the final of the contest.