Cathal Dunne Sings to a Jerusalem Audience Under Guard

MAY 15 1979 · 12:05

Cathal Dunne · "Happy Man" · Ireland · 1979 Placement: 5 · Score: 80 · Language: English · Composers: Cathal Dunne · Venue: Binyanei HaUma · Host: Jerusalem, Israel · Type: deep cut · Broadcast: color analog Dunne, a Cork-born songwriter, is the first person to both write and perform an Irish Eurovision entry. Israel is defending its 1978 win in Jerusalem, armed guards visible at Binyanei HaUma. Dunne's song is a wry, buoyant ragtime-adjacent piano number — a tonal swerve from the ballad-heavy program. 5th place with 80 points. Israel's Gali Atari & Milk and Honey win with 'Hallelujah'. Context Security around Jerusalem 1979 was the tightest in Eurovision history; several countries threatened non-participation over safety. Dunne was 25, an emigrant to San Francisco writing songs on a small upright piano. His selection broke RTÉ's unwritten rule against singer-songwriters — the National Song Contest had been producing earnest ballad interpreters. Legacy Dunne relocated permanently to the Bay Area and became a professional Irish music educator. 'Happy Man' remains the only Irish Eurovision entry both written and performed by the same person until Ryan Dolan 2013. The 1979 broadcast from Jerusalem under guard is now a standard citation in Eurovision security-policy academic work.