Early life and first music steps
Dawn Martin is an Irish singer from Dundalk, County Louth. Before Eurovision, she worked as a hairdresser. At the same time, she built her experience by singing at weddings and other local events. Her name also stayed linked to Dundalk’s talent and cabaret scene, which later local reports still remembered with pride.
The road to Eurosong
Her big break came in 1997. Martin appeared on BBC Radio Ulster’s The George Jones Show. Songwriter Gerry Morgan heard her there and asked her to sing “Is Always Over Now?”. Soon after that, she entered Eurosong ’98. On 8 March 1998, Martin won the Irish national final with 95 points from ten regional juries. That victory sent Dawn Martin to the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland.
The Eurosong win brought attention, but it also brought pressure. Louis Walsh criticised Martin after his act, The Carter Twins, lost the national final. In the run-up to Birmingham, RTÉ also replaced her original Dundalk backing singers. One of the new backing performers was 1994 Irish winner Paul Harrington. Even so, Martin stayed focused. On 9 May 1998, she sang 13th in the running order at Eurovision in Birmingham. Ireland finished ninth with 64 points, and “Is Always Over Now?” later reached number 24 on the Irish singles chart.
After Eurovision
After Birmingham, Martin stayed connected to music and to Eurovision fans. In 2011, she performed “Is Always Over Now?” at Eurobash in Dublin’s Panti Bar. Then, in 2015, she appeared at the Louth Music Awards, where local press reported that she surprised young singer Jake McArdle in an X Factor-style duet. In public discography databases, her main listed release remains the 1998 single “Is Always Over Now?”. So, in public sources, her later career appears more through live appearances and local events than through chart activity.
Dawn Martin today
Today, Dawn Martin still has a place in Irish Eurovision memory. Local articles in 2023 and 2024 continued to mention her among the singers who came through Dundalk talent shows and Owen Gray’s cabaret nights. In 2025, a Newry history article again linked Martin to Gerry Morgan’s Eurovision song for Ireland. So, Dawn Martin’s career may have started on local stages, but her name remains part of Ireland’s Eurovision story. She is still remembered as the Dundalk singer who gave Ireland a top ten result in 1998.
