Ireland Eurovision 2023 Odds: What Are Ireland's Chances At This Year's Song Contest?

Bet365's best price of 300/1 on Ireland to win Eurovision 2023 are an indication of how far the mighty have fallen.  

We are all familiar with Ireland’s position at the top of the Eurovision all-time winners league, but that position is seriously under threat this year from Sweden, as Loreen takes to the Liverpool stage as the pre-concert favourite. 

It’s only so long we can hark back to past glories. You need to be into your late 40s to remember all of the glory years, and the fact now is Ireland are a dead duck when it comes to Eurovision betting.

With only two top 10s to show from the last 20 contests, and failing to qualify in seven of the last eight, Ireland are the worst performing country of the past two decades. 

A change in cultural attitude is required but unfortunately it does not appear to be forthcoming. Meanwhile, Irish Eurofans sit and suffer, full of embarrassment.

For the second year in a row, Ireland selected its act via the wholly unsuitable mechanism of the Late Late Show. 

Wild Youth emerged victorious with their indie-pop anthemic track ‘We Are One’. Wild Youth are a very capable band. Vocals, instrumentation, showmanship, everything in that sense is spot on. 

Had they sent a song from the heart, something unique to them, we might well be having a different conversation. 

However, they have gone and done the old Irish trick of “writing a song for Eurovision”. We Are One is a dull attempt to write an inclusive upbeat track. 

This is exactly what Europe doesn’t want. Eurovision rewards originality, sincerity in the song, belief and confidence in the performance. 

While Wild Youth are likeable, the song just does not tick those boxes this year.

Eurovision 2023: What Are Ireland’s Chances?

Ireland performs in semi-final one from a moderate draw in stall six. Coming after Portugal’s wailing bag of cats entry is probably not a bad thing, but Croatia’s Stalinist drag act will deem the Irish entry forgettable relatively quickly. 

Unfortunately for Ireland, this is possibly the strongest semi-final ever, hence odds of 250/1 to win it. The other side of the draw is extremely weak. 

I reckon there are eight certain qualifiers, which means Ireland are battling for two spots from seven remaining acts. 

Ireland Eurovision Odds: Is There A Betting Angle?

This year the semi-finals are 100% televote. This will probably help Ireland, who are a best price 3/1 to qualify on multiple betting sites.

My guess is Ireland are in a shootout with Portugal and the Netherlands for the last qualification slot, so being the longest price of these by a distance I don’t see 3/1 as value to qualify. 

For alternative betting angles on the 2023 event, read our overall Eurovision final preview.