In breaking news this evening, it has been confirmed that Ireland will not participate in Eurovision 2026.
The news comes after a meeting of the European Broadcasting Union in Geneva today where it was confirmed that Israel will be allowed to participate in next year's contest.
Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia have also confirmed that they have withdrawn from the contest, while Iceland will decide next week.
It had been hoped that an overhaul of the voting rules to limit to the number of times people can vote and discourage government spending on promotion campaigns would be enough to keep national broadcasters in the competition.
In a statement this evening, RTÉ confirmed that they “will not participate in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, nor will RTÉ broadcast the competition” .
Our Eurovision expert, Cathal Murray joined us on On the Move to break down the boycott.
Follow Cathal for more Eurovision content @neitherherenorthere.fm on Instagram and Tiktok.
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