The Director General of the Irish public broadcaster RT\u00c9 has confirmed he sees no reason for the broadcaster to return to the Eurovision Song Contest currently.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Morning Ireland on RT\u00c9 Radio 1, Kevin Bakhurst, the Director General of RT\u00c9, confirmed that the broadcaster currently sees \u201cno reason\u201d to return to the Eurovision Song Contest. He said in the interview that:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t started to think about next year and there\u2019s a long way to go. Our rationale still holds, civilians are still dying in smaller numbers, but they are still dying in significant numbers in Gaza, and also in Lebanon. Journalists are still being targeted, and they still have been up to recently.<\/p>\n
For us as a public service broadcaster, who believes in the importance of protecting journalists and believes in human rights, there\u2019s no reason at the moment to change our decision but we will review it in the coming months.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ireland withdrew from competing in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna, Austria in protest at Israel\u2019s continued participation in the competition. In a statement in December 2025, the broadcaster explained:<\/p>\n
RT\u00c9 feels that Ireland\u2019s participation remains unconscionable\u00a0given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there which continues to put the lives of so many civilians at risk. RT\u00c9 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ireland was one of five broadcasters that withdrew from the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in protest at Israel\u2019s continued participation. The EBU stated in the build up to the contest in Vienna, that it hoped to continue to work with RT\u00c9 to discuss and work on the concerns expressed by the broadcaster about the contest. Martin Green, Director of the Eurovision Song Contest told the Irish broadcaster last week:<\/p>\n
All I can say is we\u2019re doing everything we can to allay their concerns. As you might imagine, all the conversations so far end with, \u2018Let\u2019s see how this year goes, and we\u2019ll see where we go.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n