It was first announced in November 2008 and the first series commenced broadcasting on 4 January 2009, completing on 15 March 2009.

Louis Walsh was approached to act as a judge before series one but refused to commit.

The twenty-five finalists in series one competed for a first prize of €50,000,[5] which was eventually won by the Mulkerrin Brothers of the Aran Islands.

It was scheduled to avoid competition with UK talent show The X Factor which airs on competing channels ITV and Virgin Media One, and BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing.

[7] There were 5 stages to The All Ireland Talent competition: The auditions took place in the North, the South, the West, the East and Dublin.

The two scores were then added (in the event of a tie, the act with the more tele-votes takes higher ranking).

This time the judges have no power over the final result and this decision is in the hands of the public.

During series one, Shane Lynch expressed his concern over the tactical voting of other judges, saying that he felt some of them were deciding upon their marks in what he viewed as an incorrect way.

[8] Referring to the elimination of his dance act Raw Edge Crew, Lynch commented: "They should have done it (progressed)... and there was tactical voting involved".

[12] Aidan Power presented a companion show called The All Ireland Talent Show Backstage with Dustin the turkey to which Aidan ended his career as co-presenter of Winning Streak: Dream Ticket.

[16] Judge Creedon has warned Dáithi Ó Sé to stop stealing acts from Munster, alleging that he invaded County Clare in series one and that he would be "answerable to me and to my gang" if he continued to persist.

From series 1 and 2, The All Ireland Talent Show the judges were broadcaster John Creedon (South), Boyzone member Shane Lynch (Dublin), television personality and weather forecaster Dáithí Ó Sé (West), 1970 Eurovision Song Contest winner and conservative politician Dana Rosemary Scallon (North) and television presenter and Irish language enthusiast Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh (East).

In Series Two Evelyn O'Rourke appeared as a replacement judge for the fourth live show after Shane Lynch's flight from London was delayed.

Aidan Power and Dustin the turkey are the current presenters on The All Ireland Talent Show Backstage.

At the start of the show Power and Dustin talk to the judges about the comments/scores they gave and the comments/scores their act were given.

A clip would be shown of Power and Dustin talking to the acts earlier that day before the show started.