RTÉ to air Father Ted Eurovision episode in boycott of song contest

By Claudia Savage, Press Association

Ireland’s national broadcaster will show an episode of the comedy Father Ted in place of the final of the 2026 Eurovision song contest.

On Saturday night, RTÉ Two will air the iconic Irish sitcom’s Eurovision-themed episode A Song For Europe, where priests Ted and Dougal perform My Lovely Horse, as it boycotts the contest over Israel’s participation.

Ireland joins Spain and Slovenia, where broadcasters are also boycotting the 70th iteration of the song competition in protest against Israel’s war in Gaza.

The Netherlands and Iceland are also not sending acts to compete in Eurovision, but it will be aired.

Russia was banned from Eurovision after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but Israel has continued to compete.

The Hamas-run health ministry estimates that 72,300 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s war in Gaza following the Hamas attack on October 7th 2023.

The boycott came about after members attended a European Broadcasting Union (EBU) general assembly in Geneva to vote on changes, which included new rules to deter countries from organising campaigns for their acts following concerns around the number of public votes Israel received in 2025.

Israeli singer Yuval Raphael received the largest number of votes from the public last May, ultimately finishing as runner-up after the jury votes were taken into account.

After the 2025 competition, RTE requested a breakdown in voting numbers from the EBU while Spain’s public broadcaster, Radio Television Espanola (RTVE), called for a “complete review” of the voting system to avoid “external interference”.

Alternative programming will also be shown on RTÉ Two during the semi-finals on Tuesday and Thursday.

The Slovenian broadcaster will air a series of documentaries on the Middle East under the theme Voices of Palestine.