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RTÉ to Air ‘Father Ted’ Eurovision Episode Amid Ireland’s Eurovision Boycott Over Israel’s Inclusion
RTÉ will air Father Ted’s Eurovision episode instead of the contest final as Ireland’s boycott over Israel’s participation intensifies.
RTÉ is skipping this weekend’s Eurovision Song Contest final and airing Father Ted instead, turning to the show’s own gloriously absurd Eurovision episode as Ireland escalates its boycott of the competition over Israel’s participation.
The 70th Eurovision final is set for Vienna on Saturday, May 16. Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain have already announced boycotts over Israel’s inclusion this year. The Netherlands and Iceland are still sending no acts to compete, though both will broadcast the final. RTÉ is now taking the same route, only with a sharper cultural twist: Father Ted’s Eurovision-themed episode, A Song For Europe, will air in Eurovision’s place, including Ted and Dougal performing their unforgettable entry, “My Lovely Horse.”
The decision has not landed quietly. Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan has attacked the move on X, calling for “the resignation of RTE’s Director General” Kevin Bakhurst and accusing RTÉ of using “Father Ted as a tool of antisemitic harassment.” He wrote: “I am disgusted that Father Ted is being used as a fig leaf to cover RTE’s disgraceful antisemitism.”
Please join me in demanding the resignation of RTE’s Director General for using Father Ted as a tool of antisemitic harassment https://t.co/DyWXC9YsED pic.twitter.com/NL6JyRGKS1
— Graham Linehan (@Glinner) May 11, 2026
I am disgusted that Father Ted is being used as a fig leaf to cover RTE’s disgraceful antisemitism. https://t.co/5KvGnLQLL4
— Graham Linehan (@Glinner) May 11, 2026
He has also launched a petition, arguing that RTÉ’s position is not a neutral act of protest but a direct political statement. In the petition, Linehan writes: “RTÉ has chosen to boycott the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest solely because Israel is participating. This is not a principled humanitarian stand. It is antisemitism – the oldest hatred – dressed up in the language of human rights.
“Singling out the world’s only Jewish state for exclusion, while no such standard is applied to any other nation, meets the internationally recognised IHRA definition of antisemitism. RTÉ has not boycotted Russia, Belarus, or Azerbaijan. It has boycotted Israel. The message is clear.”
He continued: “To compound this disgrace, RTÉ has chosen to fill the Eurovision slot on Saturday night with my show – the Father Ted Eurovision episode, A Song for Europe – as an act of pointed, gleeful counter-programming. I did not give my permission for Father Ted to be used as a prop in an antisemitic political gesture. I object to it in the strongest possible terms.
“This is not the Ireland I know. This is not the Ireland that gave Father Ted to the world. RTÉ’s institutional antisemitism is poisoning Irish public life, normalising Jew-hatred under the guise of solidarity, and it must be confronted.”
RTÉ has not yet responded publicly to Linehan’s comments.
The broadcaster’s decision comes as pressure on Eurovision over Israel’s involvement continues to build. On Monday, May 11, it emerged that an investigation by The New York Times found Israel’s government had run a “well-organised campaign” to use Eurovision as a “soft power” tool. The report said the state-backed influence campaign had stretched across previous editions of the contest, adding more fuel to long-running speculation that the results may have been distorted.
At the European Broadcasting Union’s general assembly last December, there was no vote on Israel’s participation. The EBU, which organises the contest, said in a statement that “a large majority of members agreed that there was no need for a further vote on participation and that the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 should proceed as planned, with the additional safeguards in place.”
RTÉ’s response at the time was blunt. As reported by The Guardian, the broadcaster said: “RTÉ feels that Ireland’s participation remains unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there, which continues to put the lives of so many civilians at risk.”
Outside the broadcasters and the organizers, the pressure has only widened. No Music For Genocide published an open letter on April 21 calling for fans to boycott this year’s Eurovision unless Israel is removed from the contest. Signed by more than 1,100 cultural workers and artists, the letter drew support from Brian Eno, Massive Attack, Paloma Faith, Paul Weller, Kneecap, Hot Chip, Of Monsters and Men, IDLES, Primal Scream, Sigur Rós, Young Fathers, Mogwai, Black Country New Road, Erika de Casier, Nadine Shah, Dry Cleaning, Ólafur Arnalds, David Holmes, Nemahsis, Macklemore, Roger Waters, Peter Gabriel, Vacations, Smerz, several former Eurovision finalists, and others.
