@DownNative ...when I read that it reads as though RTE broadcast the Eurovision on RTE but instead of us sending Marty Whelan to commentate, they actually showed the BBC coverage, with Terry Wogan as the commentator.
"Since its debut in 1965, the country has missed only two contests: the 1983 contest in Munich and the 2002 contest in Tallinn. A strike at RTÉ in 1983 meant that the station lacked the resources to send a participant, so RTÉ broadcast the contest with the BBC commentary feed"
Again, this is very different to what @Topseyt123 was alluding to or saying straight out in their post.
Kind of like what RTE does when it shows the same episode of EastEnders on RTE that is being shown at the same time on the BBC but with the BBC commentator doing the audio description.
This is what I get when I search for "Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest" and Wikipedia has this in the article:
"Ireland did not participate in the 1983 edition in Germany, nor did they send a commentator to Munich that year, but instead broadcast the BBC feed of the contest with Terry Wogan as commentator, who welcomed viewers in Ireland during his introduction. RTÉ Radio, however, did provide commentary by Brendan Balfe."
So we didn't enter in 1983 (so no requirement to 'host' on our behalf) and we took the feed from the BBC instead with Terry as the commentator...again, not 'hosting'. If we spoke French or German or Spanish or Italian as well as we speak English, we could just as easily have taken the feed from their national broadcaster instead.