where did ireland finish in the eurovision song contest 2018
16th
title: Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest text: 1996 when Eimear Quinn won with "The Voice". Ireland also finished second in 1997 with Marc Roberts. In the 21st century, Ireland has fared less well, only reaching the top 10 on three occasions, with Eamonn Toal sixth in 2000, Brian Kennedy tenth in 2006 and Jedward eighth in 2011. Ireland finished last in the final for the first time in 2007, which happened again in 2013. Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Ireland has failed to reach the final seven times, in 2005, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. In 2018, Ireland qualified for the title: Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 text: Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Together", performed by Ryan O'Shaughnessy and written by himself, Mark Caplice and Laura Elizabeth Hughes. The song and the singer were internally selected in January 2018 by the Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) to represent the nation at the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal. Ireland was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 8 May 2018. He sang in 18th position and successfully qualified for the final, marking the country's first qualification title: Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 text: Brendan Murray all failed to qualify to the final. On 31 January 2018, RTÉ announced Ryan O'Shaughnessy as the Irish entrant at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Together". The "Eurovision Song Contest 2018" took place at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal and consisted of two semi-finals on 8 and 10 May and the final on 12 May 2018. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) were required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete title: Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 text: as a songwriter). In 2011 and 2012, Jedward represented the nation for two consecutive years, managing to qualify to the final both times and achieve Ireland's highest position in the contest since 2000, placing eighth in 2011 with the song "Lipstick". However, in 2013, despite managing to qualify to the final, Ryan Dolan and his song "Only Love Survives" placed last in the final. The Irish entries in 2014, "Heartbeat" performed by Can-Linn featuring Kasey Smith, in 2015, "Playing with Numbers" performed by Molly Sterling, in 2016 "Sunlight" performed by Nicky Byrne, and in 2017 "Dying to Try" performed by title: Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 text: for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progressed to the final. Ireland performed eighteenth in the first semi-final, following the entry from Switzerland and preceding the entry from Cyprus. At the end of the show, Ireland was announced as one of the ten countries who qualified to the grand final, making it their first qualification since 2013. Following the semi-final, Ryan O'Shaughnessy participated in a press conference with the other winners in which they drew which half of the final they'd perform in. Ireland was drawn to perform in the second half of the grand final. Voting