Graham Linehan has accused the Irish state broadcaster of being anti-Semitic over its decision to boycott Eurovision due to Israel’s participation – and play Father Ted instead.
RTÉ will air the sitcom’s iconic 1996 episode ‘A Song For Europe’ on Saturday night, in which priests Ted and Dougal enter the ‘Eurosong’ contest, a parody of Eurovision, to represent Ireland.
Mr Linehan, who co-created Father Ted, said he objected ‘in the strongest possible terms’ to the decision.
He claimed RTÉ, which is one of five public channels to pull out of Eurovision’s 70th anniversary show in Vienna, was using his show as a ‘tool of anti-Semitic harassment’.
Mr Linehan also called for the resignation of the Irish broadcaster’s director-general, Kevin Bakhurst, in a petition he shared on X.
He wrote: ‘Please join me in demanding the resignation of RTE’s director general for using Father Ted as a tool of anti-Semitic harassment.’
‘RTÉ has chosen to boycott the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest solely because Israel is participating,’ Mr Linehan added.
Graham Linehan has accused the Irish state broadcaster of being anti-Semitic over its decision to boycott Eurovision due to Israel’s participation – and play Father Ted instead
Ireland’s state broadcaster will play a Eurovision-themed episode of Father Ted in place of the singing contest’s final
‘This is not a principled humanitarian stand. It is anti-Semitism – 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 [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] definition of anti-Semitism.
‘RTÉ has not boycotted Russia, Belarus, or Azerbaijan. It has boycotted Israel. The message is clear.’
Mr Linehan’s petition demanding Mr Bakhurst’s resignation has already garnered more than 1,300 signatures.
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 anti-Semitic 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 anti-Semitism is poisoning Irish public life, normalising Jew-hatred under the guise of solidarity, and it must be confronted.’
Ireland has won Eurovision seven times, making it the most successful country in the competition’s history along with Sweden.
RTÉ announced the country would not be competing for the first time in 61 years last December, citing the ‘appalling loss of lives in Gaza’.
RTÉ said it would not be competing in Eurovision for the first time in 61 years, citing the ‘appalling loss of lives in Gaza’. Pictured: Noam Bettan
Spain, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland have all also decided to boycott the competition over the war in Gaza.
Israeli singer Noam Bettan is among 15 acts competing for votes from viewers and national juries as the semi finals got underway today in Vienna.
Bettan is seeking to get Israel, which came second in 2025, into Saturday’s final with the ballad ‘Michelle’.
Like last year’s Israeli competitor, Yuval Raphael, he has practised singing while being booed.
Slovenia has also decided not to broadcast Saturday’s show and said it would air a documentary about Palestine.
‘Instead of the Eurovision circus, the national television programme will be coloured by the thematic program series ‘Voices of Palestine’,’ Slovenian broadcaster RTV said.
Spain’s RTVE will run its own musical special, ‘The House of Music’.
The boycotts are a financial blow to Eurovision, which is funded largely by participating broadcasters, and to public broadcasters at a time when many are under financial pressure from government funding cuts and competition from social media.
In December, RTÉ issued a statement saying: ‘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.
‘RTÉ 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.’
