Ireland: The head of delegation does not support the boycott of Israel in Eurovision 2024!
After the statements of the public broadcasters of Norway and Denmark, now also the Irish head of delegation, expresses his opposition to the boycott of Israel in Eurovision 2024.
Speaking on the Eurotrippodcast, Michael Kealy who is the head of Ireland’s Eurovision delegation, agreed with the EBU’s decision and against any boycott of Israel in the contest.
This is not competition between governments – it is competition between public broadcasters. The public broadcaster in Israel is an independent broadcaster like RTÉ. It is independent of the government – it is not Netanyahu’s mouthpiece.
Michael Kealy is also opposed to Ireland withdrawing from the contest because of Israel’s participation in it.
There are many calls to withdraw from Eurovision because Israel is participating in it. This would set a very dangerous precedent if we do this at RTÉ because we are not a political organisation, we are a public broadcaster. I’m not in favor of that.
Ireland make their national selection during a special edition of The Late Late Show on 26 January.
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