RTÉ confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest on 24 May 2016. On 16 December 2016, Louis Walsh, who was in charge of the selection process, announced during The Late Late Show that he had internally selected Brendan Murray to represent Ireland in Kyiv. Murray was a former member of the Irish boy band HomeTown. During the show, Murray performed a guitar rendition of "Hold Me Now" by Johnny Logan.
