"You haven't sent a decent song in 25 years."
"Come on, take a year off. Think about it and return stronger, and hopefully be in the top five for a change. We miss the good Irish song,"
"We're happy that we're in the contest. We're sad to see countries withdrawing. It's your decision if you want to act like that. The contest is a competition between the broadcasters, not the countries. There's a big difference. What's happening in Gaza, it's okay to criticise the Israeli government. We do that all"
RTÉ will not participate or broadcast the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest because Israel will be competing. Broadcasters from the Netherlands, Spain and Slovenia had also said they would not take part if Israel was involved. The Gaza war, cited in the protests, has left about 70,000 Palestinians dead. Ireland has won Eurovision seven times but will not compete in 2026. Iceland's national broadcaster will decide next week on participation. Former Israeli delegation press head Alon Amir said Israel is happy to participate and characterised the withdrawals as a broadcaster decision.
Read at Irish Independent
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