Ireland’s bid to turn around their Eurovision fortunes have taken a bizarre turn – after a petition for the Father Ted song My Lovely Horse to represent them in 2015 made it as far as the Irish parliament.
The bid, which was submitted to the houses of the Oireachtas last month following Ireland’s latest Euroflop, came courtesy of an association called The People Of Ireland (And Interested Britons Too).
But unfortunately for chief petitioner Finn McCool, the prospect of seeing the equine anthem on the stage in Austria next year looks unlikely to become reality after the government rejected the petition.
While the petitions committee is reported to have considered the request, it ultimately declared that it could not force RTE – the national broadcaster of Ireland – to send the song in 2015.
Chairman Padraig MacLochlainn added that the committee did ‘not have the musical expertise’ needed to take the petition further.
My Lovely Horse – penned by Divine Comedy frontman Neil Hannon – achieved a kind of infamy after it appeared in the second series of the Channel 4 show.
The episode saw Father Ted (Dermot Morgan) and Father Dougal McGuire (Ardal O’Hanlon) make their bid to represent Ireland at ‘Eurosong 96′ – a spoof of Eurovision – with their song.
However supporters of the petition would have been unlikely to realise their dream even if the Irish parliament had approved it.
That’s because Eurovision rules state entries must not have been released prior to the September before the event – rendering My Lovely Horse tragically ineligible.
Despite being the most successful Eurovision nation of all time – with seven previous wins under their belt – Ireland went home empty-handed from this year’s contest in Copenhagen after performers Can-Linn and Kasey Smith crashed out at the semi-final stage.
Next year’s contest will take place in Austria following Conchita Wurst’s victory last month, although the host city has yet to be determined – with Vienna, Graz, and Innsbruck all in the running.
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