Ireland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain have withdrawn from the competition, citing Israel's participation despite its war in Gaza. The Netherlands and Iceland are not sending any entries but will broadcast the final.
RTÉ in turn chose to broadcast an episode of the Irish-British comedy series "Father Ted" in which the priests Ted and Dougal perform their Eurovision song "My Lovely Horse."
The decision has angered one of the series' creators, Graham Linehan, who on X is calling for the resignation of RTÉ's director general for using the series "as a tool for anti-Semitic harassment."
