Ireland’s bid to turn around their Eurovision fortunes have taken a bizarre turn – after a petition for the Father Ted song My Lovely Horse to represent them in 2015 made it as far as the Irish parliament.

The bid, which was submitted to the houses of the Oireachtas last month following Ireland’s latest Euroflop, came courtesy of an association called The People Of Ireland (And Interested Britons Too).
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While the petitions committee is reported to have considered the request, it ultimately declared that it could not force RTE – the national broadcaster of Ireland – to send the song in 2015.

Chairman Padraig MacLochlainn added that the committee did ‘not have the musical expertise’ needed to take the petition further.

http://metro.co.uk/2014/06/27/irish-parliament-rejects-petition-to-send-father-teds-my-lovely-horse-to-eurovision-4778684/

In the episode, despite being comically bad, the song was selected so Ireland would not win the competition again.

Lyrics include: "I want to shower you with sugar lumps and ride you over fences, polish your hooves every single day and bring you to the horse dentist."
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The Father Ted episode was originally aired in 1996, when Ireland had won the competition four times in the space of just five years.

The comedy programme suggested that the Irish state could not afford to host the Eurovision again, so the judges selected My Lovely Horse in order to ensure national defeat in the finals.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-28066759