Several European broadcasters are expected to announce over the coming days whether they will take part in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
It was announced yesterday that Ireland will not participate in next year’s contest,adn it will not be broadcast by RTÉ,after the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) confirmed that Israel will be allowed to take part.
Broadcasters in Slovenia, Spain, and the Netherlands also announced that they would be withdrawing from the competition.
Spain is one of Eurovision’s so-called ‘Big Five’ countries, the largest financial contributors who qualify automatically for the grand final, so its withdrawal is a meaningful change to the lineup.
Iceland’s broadcaster RÚV will consider its position on Wednesday and Belgium is also due to make its intentions known in the coming days.
In a statement yesterday, RTÉ said it “feels that Ireland’s participation remains unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there”.
“RTÉ remains deeply concerned by the targeted killing of journalists in Gaza during the conflict and the continued denial of access to international journalists to the territory,” the broadcaster added.
Watch: Eurovision Song Contest in disarray after dramatic day
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The move has been welcomed by some campaign groups and unions and criticised by others, including former Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, and former Israeli delegation member, Alon Amir.
The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign posted a message online saying, “Well done RTÉ”.
Its chairperson Zoe Lawlor said the group had been calling on the broadcaster to boycott the event for two years.
She said: “We very much welcome RTÉ standing firm in their decision and reiterating that they will neither participate in Eurovision 2026 nor broadcast it.”
Minister for Communications Patrick O’Donovan said RTÉ has a “long heritage” of being an independent public service broadcaster with an “arm’s length” connection to Government.
“We don’t,in any way,interfere with them from an editorial point of view,” he told RTÉ’s *Morning Ireland.
“They have, in this situation, informed us and kept us up to date, just in respect of the likelihood of what was going to happen, but ultimately this is a matter for RTÉ and it’s a matter for the Director General and for the company themselves.”
Charlie McGettigan, who won the contest in 1994 with Paul Harrington, said he was “delighted” with RTÉ’s decision.
“I am delighted that RTÉ have stuck to their guns on this issue. They did withdraw from the competition earlier this year, and now, at a crucial point in time, they’ve decided we don’t want to enter a competition that Israel is involved in.
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