Ireland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1976 with the song "When", written by Brendan Graham, and performed by Red Hurley. The Irish participating broadcaster, (RTÃÂ), selected its entry through a national final.
(RTÃÂ) held the twelfth National Song Contest on Sunday 8 February 1976 at its studios in Dublin, hosted by Mike Murphy. Eight songs took part, with the winner chosen by voting from eight regional juries.
Other participants included past and future Irish representatives The Swarbriggs ( and ), Cathal Dunne () and Linda Martin () who performed as a member of the group Chips.
On the evening of the final Hurley performed 7th in the running order, following and preceding the . At the close of voting, "When" had picked up 54 points, placing Ireland 10th of the 18 entries. Ireland received one maximum 12 from , which the Irish jury reciprocated by awarding their 12 to the Italian song.