Former Eurovision winner Charlie McGettigan is calling on Irish people to use tonight’s Eurovision song contest as a moment of solidarity with the people of Palestine.
The Ballyshannon native won the competition along with Paul Harrington, singing Rock n’ Roll Kids.
As the Eurovision 2026 final takes place tonight, there is no Irish entry while RTÉ is among a number of broadcasters boycotting the event, stating that Ireland’s participation was “unconscionable” given the loss of life in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there.
RTE will instead air a Eurovision-themed episode of Father Ted.
Charlie McGettigan is calling for people to join ActionAid’s “My Euro Vision Is” campaign, which invites people not to watch the Eurovision final and to organise alternative nights of solidarity instead and express their hopes for Europe.
It is suggesting people host karaoke events, community gatherings, art and paint events featuring Palestinian music.
McGettigan said: “The Eurovision Song Contest cannot continue to present itself as a celebration of unity, peace and shared European values while ignoring what is happening in Palestine. This is not business as usual.
“The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza deepens. Children have been killed. Families have been wiped out. Hospitals, schools, and refugee camps have been attacked. And Palestinians are being starved and displaced before the eyes of the world. Silence and inaction are complicity.”
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McGettigan added: “People across Ireland are horrified by what they are witnessing in Gaza and the West Bank. They do not want genocide normalised and ignored on the European stage. Palestinians are not forgotten, and people in Ireland will continue to stand in solidarity with them.”
Last year, McGettigan announced he was handing back his Eurovision trophy from 1994 in protest of Israel’s ongoing participation in the song contest.
Israel’s entrant Noam Bettan has qualified for tonight’s Grand Final with his song Michelle.
McGettigan added: “Three years into genocide in Gaza and a 60- year-long illegal occupation of Palestine, Israel continues to compete in the Eurovision as if nothing is happening. It exposes a blatant and indefensible double standard at the heart of European institutions and cultural events.”
ActionAid Ireland has called on the Irish Government to push for accountability from Israel, action on Palestine from the European Union, and to immediately pass the long-delayed Occupied Territories Bill, which would ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.