Irish broadcaster RTÉ is set to air an episode of Father Ted in place of the Eurovision Song Contest final this weekend.
The 70th edition will be held in Vienna on Saturday (May 16) and has already seen boycotts from Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain over Israel’s inclusion in this year’s event. The Netherlands and Iceland are also not sending acts to compete in Eurovision, but will air the final.
Now, RTÉ is taking a similar stance by airing Father Ted‘s Eurovision-themed episode ‘A Song For Europe’, where priests Ted and Dougal perform their Eurovision song ‘My Lovely Horse’, as part of its boycott of the contest over Israel’s participation.
But the move has sparked anger from Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan who took to X to call “for the resignation of RTE’s Director General” Kevin Bakhurst for using “Father Ted as a tool of antisemitic harassment”.
He added: “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
Linehan has also set up a petition over the matter writing: “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 added: “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 is yet to comment publicly on Linehan’s comments.
Yesterday (Monday May 11) it emerged that an investigation found that Israel’s government orchestrated a “well-organised campaign” to use the Eurovision Song Contest as a “soft power” tool.
The investigation was carried out by The New York Times and claimed that Israel carried out a state-backed influence campaign during past editions of Eurovision – fuelling speculation that the results were distorted as a result.
At the general assembly of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises the competition, last December, there was no vote held on Israel’s participation. The EBU said in a statement at the time: “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.”
The Irish broadcaster RTÉ responded by saying (via The Guardian) at the time: “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.”
Pressure to exclude Israel from the competition has also come from No Music For Genocide, who issued an open letter, signed by over 1,100 cultural workers and artists, calling for fans to boycott this year’s Eurovision unless Israel is banned from participating.
The open letter was first shared on April 21, and featured signatures 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, a number of former Eurovision finalists, and more.
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