Six songs faced a public televote, ultimately resulting in the selection of "Irelande Douze Pointe" performed by Dustin the Turkey as the Irish Eurovision entry.

Performing during the show in position 11, "Irelande Douze Pointe" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final.

Ireland holds the record for being the only country to win the contest three times in a row (in 1992, 1993 and 1994), as well as having the only three-time winner (Johnny Logan, who won in 1980 as a singer, 1987 as a singer-songwriter, and again in 1992 as a songwriter).

RTÉ Assistant Commissioning Entertainment Editor Julian Vignoles stated: "The key findings of the committee were that the ESC has changed to incorporate bigger and bigger productions, that the growth in the number of Eastern European countries participating has made the contest even more competitive, and that it has become, as at TV phenomenon, more and more elaborate.

"[7][8] Eurosong 2008 was the national final format developed by RTÉ in order to select Ireland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.

[11] On 4 November 2007, RTÉ opened a submission period where artists and composers were able to submit their entries for the competition until 23 January 2008.

[8] The members of the jury that selected the six finalists were television producer Bill Hughes, singer-songwriter Eleanor McEvoy, singer-songwriter and former contest winner Charlie McGettigan, agent and choreographer Julian Benson and RTÉ Assistant Commissioning Entertainment Editor Julian Vignoles.

[14][15] The national final took place on 23 February 2008 and featured a guest performance from former contest winner Marija Šerifović as well as commentary from a panel that consisted of music manager Louis Walsh and former contest winners Šerifović and Dana Rosemary Scallon.

[17][18][19] The announcement of Dustin the Turkey as the winner of Eurosong 2008 caused mixed reactions from the hall audience, including audible boos and panellist Dana Rosemary Scallon describing the win as a "mockery of the competition".

[22] Jury chairman Bill Hughes subsequently stated that Dustin's song, which included a "strong female vocal", was "very funny" and "had a great melody".

[23] The controversial nature of his entry "Irelande Douze Pointe" was also said to have been in breach of the contest rules that could "bring the Shows or the ESC as such into disrepute".

All nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) were required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top nine songs from each semi-final as determined by televoting progressed to the final, and a tenth was determined by back-up juries.

[35][36] At the end of the show, Ireland was not announced among the top 10 entries in the first semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final.