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, and 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 significant change to the lineup.
Belgium has joined a majority of EBU national broadcasters saying it will participate. Sweden's national broadcaster STV has also confirmed it will take part in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest.
Iceland's broadcaster RÚV will consider its position on Wednesday.
Watch: Public reacts to RTÉ's Eurovision withdrawal
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.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin described RTÉ pulling out of Eurovision over the participation of Israel as an act of solidarity.
Speaking at a meeting of the British-Irish Council in Cardiff, Mr Martin said: "I fully understand the decision of RTÉ as a broadcaster because there are two groups of people, among many, who acted extremely brave during the war in Gaza - the medical community and journalists.
"And this is, among other things, an act of solidarity with those journalists who were killed in breach of international humanitarian law during the war in Gaza. Without those journalists, the world would not have known to the degree that it knows the horrors of what transpired in Gaza.
"I think our focus has to be on peace and how now can we contribute to the bedding down of the of the ceasefire and how can we, as a country, and Ireland is up to contributing to the peace process, and we work with other like-minded countries in that respect."
He added that Ireland's decision to recognise Palestine as a state was in the context of the Arab partner peace initiative.
"So we're working with all involved to see how we can contribute in terms of the peace process the most and also then the absolute unimpeded flow of vital humanitarian aid into Gaza, which is not going in to the degree or sufficiency, that the situation requires."
Watch: Eurovision Song Contest in disarray after dramatic day
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."
Miranda Bauer from the group Jews for Palestine has said that she fully supported RTÉ's decision to pull out of the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna.
"I think it's the right moral stance and it shows the values of Irish people and artists," she said.
"Other countries have been banned from participating in the past and we think the same logic should be applied to Israel which is continuously violating ceasefire agreements and human rights conventions."
She said the decision sent a message that "RTÉ does not want to stand complicit but wants to stand in solidarity with people facing an occupation and that it's not willing to let culture be used to gloss over a genocide".
Ms Bauer said the more countries that joined in sending a message to Israel that it could not continue with "business as usual", the better.
However, the interim president of the European Jewish Congress and vice-president of the World Jewish Congress, Ariel Muzicant, described Israel's participation as a "victory for Europe and a victory for common sense".
"Israeli policy is shaped by a government that was elected by 52% of Israelis at the time and would most likely no longer have a majority among the Israeli people today," he said in Vienna last night.
"And so punishing the Israeli people, and especially the young people who watch the song contest, for what the Israeli government has done would be, first of all, wrong and, secondly, stupid. Because that would only strengthen the extremists, who are definitely not watching the song contest in Israel."
Former Eurovision winner 'delighted' with RTÉ's decision
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.
"And you know, it’s particularly because at the moment journalists can’t go into Gaza City. Nobody knows what’s going on in there," Mr McGettigan said.
Watch: Paul Harrington says Eurovision boycott will have an impact
However, in a post on X, former Minister for Justice Alan Shatter criticised the move, saying it was an "international embarrassment".
He claimed it would "deny Irish artists of the career boosting opportunity to compete and the Irish public of both the enjoyment of our doing so and voting for their preferred song".
Alon Amir, a former head of press with the Israeli Eurovision delegation, said Eurovision is a competition between broadcasters, not countries.
Speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said nobody in Israel "really cares" that countries are withdrawing from the competition.
"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," he said.
"It's okay to criticise the Israeli government, we do that all the time. The vast majority of Israelis do not want Netanyahu. We don't want this Israeli government. It's fine to criticise the government but Eurovision is a different thing. It's the broadcaster, not the country. We need to separate between the two things."
Mr Amir said Ireland has not had a decent entry in the competition in 25 years.
He suggested Ireland should "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 songs," he added.
Watch: Charlie McGettigan: "I am delighted that RTÉ have stuck to their guns"
The Dublin Broadcasting branch of the National Union of Journalists also welcomed the decision.
In a statement on X, it said: "We agree that to participate would be unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza, the targeted killing of journalists, & Israel’s continued denial of international media access to Gaza."
The union’s Dublin branch chairwoman Emma O Kelly described the EBU’s decision to allow Israel to remain in the competition as "indefensible".
She said: "We find it difficult to understand how the EBU, which after all is a union of broadcasters, can continue to support a state that literally targets and kills broadcasters - journalists and camera operators - and continues to deny its own broadcaster members access to Gaza."
Ireland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest, which attracts an audience of around 160 million viewers worldwide, 58 times since 1965, missing only the 1983 and 2002 editions.
Read more:
RTÉ to boycott Eurovision Song Contest over Israel's participation
Eurovision Song Contest in disarray after dramatic day
Paul Harrington says Eurovision boycott 'will have an impact'
