Skip to main content

Millstreet 1993

The tiny town of Millstreet in Ireland was the centre of Europe when it hosted the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest. 

Changing times

The 1993 Eurovision Song Contest, held in Millstreet, a small town in South West Ireland, home to 1500 people, was an ambitious production for national broadcaster RTE. The 1993 contest is to date, the only competition in Ireland that has been held outside of the capital Dublin.

The early 1990s were a time of massive change in Europe. These changes were reflected in the Eurovision Song Contest as newly sovereign nations took to the stage. In order to accommodate the growing number of countries eager to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, a pre-selection,Kvalifikacija za Millstreet, took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia ahead of the contest in which seven countries competed. Three countries made their respective debuts; Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia.

Same story, different cast

The top two in 1993 was exactly the same as the year before; Ireland in first place, the United Kingdom in second. The Irish entry, In Your Eyes performed by Niamh Kavanagh beat the United Kingdom's Sonia on the very last vote.

Facts & figures

  • The idea to stage the Eurovision Song Contest came from local Millstreet businessman Noel C Duggan who offered host broadcaster RTE the venue for free. The Glen Greens Arena, the venue for the 1993 contest, was actually an equestrian centre at the time.
  • To cope with the growing numbers of participating countries, a relegation system was introduced in 1993 meaning that the bottom seven countries would miss out on a place in the contest the following year. However since Italy and Luxembourg withdrew voluntarily, only the bottom five countries missed the 1994 competition.