IRELAND will miss out on the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest after failing once again to qualify from the semi-final stage.
Dublin rockers Wild Youth turned in an impressive performance of their song We Are One at the Liverpool Arena on Tuesday.
However, despite their catchy tune and impressive pyrotechnics, they failed to make the cut for Saturday's showpiece.
The band — comprising Conor O'Donohoe, David Whelan, Ed Porter and Callum McAdam — were in a tough qualifying group, which featured two of this year's favourites, Sweden and Finland.
'Everything was perfect'
As the results were being announced, RTÉ's Eurovision Song Contest commentator Marty Whelan appeared to accept Ireland's fate as the qualifying spots slowly filled up.
However, when Norway were confirmed as the last of the 10 qualifiers out of the 15 acts that performed, Whelan was at a loss to explain Ireland's failure to progress.
"Everything about it was perfect," he said during RTÉ One's live broadcast.
"For Conor, David, Ed and Callum, everything about it was absolutely perfect. They were fantastic.
"There are things I want to say, there are things I want to share — you probably get it from the tone of my voice what I'm thinking.
"But this is just such a shame because we deserved it, but the votes didn't come."
He added: "It really, really is such a disappointment — what a shame."
The other countries that failed to progress from Tuesday's semi-final were Latvia, Malta, Azerbaijan and Netherlands.
The result was determined through television votes, which were cast during the live broadcast.
As well as the 15 participating countries, viewers in France, Germany and Italy could also vote.
The 10 successful qualifiers will join the qualifiers from Thursday's second semi-final in Saturday's showpiece.
France, Germany, Spain, Britain and Italy qualify for the final automatically, as do Ukraine as last year's winners.
Dismal run continues
Ireland's semi-final exit means they have failed to qualify for the final in eight out of the last nine competitions.
Ryan O'Shaughnessy reached the final in 2018 with his song Together, finishing a respectable 16th out of 26 entries.
The country's recent dismal run is a far cry from the heady days of the early 1990s, when the country won it three times in a row.
They currently top the Eurovision Roll of Honour with seven wins but could soon be sharing that distinction, with six-time winners Sweden the favourites to win this year.
