Members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) at RTÉ have called on the broadcaster to follow the lead of other European public service stations by formally opposing Israel's participation in this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland.
The RTÉ sub-branch of the NUJ has written to Director General Kevin Bakhurst, urging him to contact the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and state that RTÉ does not support Israel's involvement in the song contest.
Israel is to be represented in the contest by Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel.
The EBU has said that Israel was allowed to compete because the country was represented by KAN, its public services broadcaster, and not its government.
On Tuesday evening, RTÉ said Mr Bakhurst "will take time to review the NUJ correspondence when he returns from annual leave tomorrow."
Last week, Iceland's public broadcaster, RÚV, joined its counterparts in Slovenia and Spain in publicly opposing Israel's participation, citing its failure to uphold its international humanitarian obligations in Gaza, the NUJ said in a statement.
The letter from the RTÉ sub-branch, sent last week, references Israel's current blockade on vital humanitarian supplies since 2 March, its airstrikes in densely populated civilian areas in Gaza and its operations in the West Bank. It notes that these actions have been condemned by the Irish government and numerous UN agencies as breaches of international humanitarian law.
"Ireland’s formal stance on Israel’s actions is further highlighted by its filing of a Declaration of Intervention at the International Court of Justice in South Africa’s case against Israel under the Genocide Convention on 6 January," the letter states.
Chair of the RTÉ sub-Branch Trevor Keegan said: "What was pressing last week is even more pressing this week, given Israel’s most recent pronouncement as to its intentions in Gaza.
"The formal stance of the Irish state is reflected in strong public sentiment across Ireland, which abhors Israel’s actions.
"We believe that RTÉ should reflect this opposition in its actions within the European Broadcasting Union.
Following today's lunchtime NUJ meeting, Chair of the Dublin Broadcasting Branch Emma O Kelly said: "The position of our members is clear. We do not believe that Israel should be allowed to participate in this year’s Eurovision, and we hope that RTÉ will adopt the same view.
"As journalists, we note Israel’s targeting and killing of Palestinian media workers, who provide photographic, video and online content to newsrooms across the EBU in the absence of international journalists gaining access to Gaza.
"As well as the loss of life we are deeply concerned at the impact of this on media freedom and the EBU’s stated values."
In light of these concerns, NUJ members at RTÉ are requesting that the broadcaster publicly, and as a matter of urgency, call on the EBU to suspend Israel’s participation in the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest.
In addition to their letter to RTÉ's Director General, the journalists have also written to EBU Director General Noel Curran, who is a former DG of RTÉ.
