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Ireland will boycott the Eurovision Song Contest for the second year in a row in protest at Israel’s participation, according to Ireland’s national broadcaster RTÉ.
RTÉ said in a statement: “RTÉ feels that Ireland’s participation cannot be justified given the appalling and ongoing loss of lives in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there which continues to put the lives of so many civilians at risk.”
RTÉ added that they also remain “deeply concerned by the continued denial of independent access to international journalists to the territory”. They also said they would not be broadcasting the competition, which will take place in Bulgaria in 2027 after singer Dara’s victory for the country in May.
Ireland has won the competition seven times between 1970 and 1996, a joint record holder alongside Sweden.
Eurovision director Martin Green said he “regretted” RTÉ ‘s stance, but “fully respect their decision”.
In 2026, RTÉ withdrew from the contest in Vienna, after the European Broadcasting Union confirmed that Israeli public broadcaster KAN would be allowed to take part.
Ireland’s decision to boycott Eurovision 2027 follows that of Dutch broadcaster AvroTros, who announced last month that they would boycott next year’s show as it was no longer consistent with “trustworthiness, independence and humanity”. It said the competition can no longer be considered neutral while a participating country remains involved in a large-scale military conflict.
Both Ireland and the Netherlands were among the five countries who decided to opt out of the 2026 competition, along with Spain, Iceland and Slovenia.
It remains to be seen whether Spain, Iceland and Slovenia will follow suit.
Hamas launched an attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. The Gaza health ministry has reported more than 73,000 deaths in the last three years of Israeli bombardment. Organisations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the United Nations have described Israel’s actions as “genocide”.
A report published in June by a UN independent commission found that “Israeli authorities and security forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide and atrocity crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank.”
A previous report last September found that Israel had committed genocide and claimed that these acts were incited by senior Israeli officials, including prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel has repeatedly labelled the accusations as “defamatory” and “distorted”.
Eurovision 2027 contest will take place in Burgas, Bulgaria, with the Grand Final being held at the Arena Burgas on 15 May.