Career
Dawn Martin left school at the age of 14 and began working as a hairdresser. In 1996 Martin had been asked to sing at a friend"s wedding and was persuaded by the band to enter a local talent contest. In 1997 Martin appeared on The George Jones Show on British Broadcasting Corporation Radio Ulster and was heard by Gerry Morgan, who invited Martin to perform his song "Is Always Over Now?".
However this result gained some controversy from Louis Walsh, whose act The Carter Twins were beaten, when he labelled the singer "an amateur".
There was further minor controversy when her two backing singers were axed by Raidió Teilifís Éireann before the final. In the lead up to the contest, Martin was ranked as 10 to 1 by bookmakers, but had been more favourably viewed by journalists, who predicted that singing in English would be an advantage with this being the first year that the contest was to include televotes.
On the night of the Contest, Martin performed 13th and received 64 points, finishing in ninth place. The single reached Number.24 in the Irish singles chart.
In 2011 Dawn appeared at Eurobash at Panti Bar in Dublin singing "Is Always Over Now?".
