Ireland has little history on the international stage, as they have yet to qualify for top tournaments such as the EuroBasket or the FIBA Basketball World Cup.

[4] The team's standard improved gradually from the 1970s to the 2000s, as more school leavers won scholarships to play US college basketball, and some Irish American professional players took up eligibility to compete for their ancestral country.

In February 2010, during the Irish financial crisis, Basketball Ireland announced that it was €1.2m in debt and was deactivating its senior international squads to cut costs.

Ireland played in the 2018 FIBA European Championship for Small Countries, held in San Marino from 26 June to 1 July.

In the semi-finals Ireland lost to Norway, sending the team to the bronze medal match where they defeated Gibraltar to finish in third place.