Irish TV to air Father Ted instead of Eurovision final in protest against Israel's inclusion

"RTE, which is boycotting the competition in protest against Israel's inclusion, will instead broadcast the 1996 episode A Song for Europe, in which the characters Father Ted and Father Dougal perform their song My Lovely Horse and earn nul points. The decision prompted condemnation on Tuesday from Graham Linehan, one of the show's creators, who accused RTE of using the show as a tool of antisemitic harassment and said it was an act of pointed, gleeful counter-programming. He demanded the resignation of the broadcaster's director-general, Kevin Bakhurst."

"The Irish news site Extra.ie, however, hailed the move as genius trolling and referred to it as my lovely boycott. Spain, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Iceland have also declined to send competitors to Austria, where singers and bands from 35 countries will compete under the motto united by music. Instead of the grand final, Slovenia's broadcaster will air documentaries under the theme Voices of Palestine. Spain's broadcaster will run a music programme called The House of Music."

"The boycott followed calls for the European Broadcasting Union to change rules to deter countries from organising voting campaigns after concerns over the Israeli singer Yuval Raphael receiving the largest number of votes from the public last year and coming second overall. The Father Ted Eurovision satire is one of the best-known episodes of the series, a show about wayward priests and their housekeeper on the fictional Craggy Island. It ran on Channel 4 from 1995 to 1998 and won several awards."

"In A Song for Europe, Ted and Dougal represent Ireland with a tuneless paean to a horse a song selected because it is considered so dreadful that it will surely avert the risk of Ireland winning and thus footing the bill."

RTE is boycotting the Eurovision song contest in protest against Israel’s inclusion and will broadcast the 1996 Father Ted episode A Song for Europe instead. In that episode, Father Ted and Father Dougal perform “My Lovely Horse” and receive nul points. The move drew condemnation from Graham Linehan, who accused RTE of using the show for antisemitic harassment and demanded the resignation of RTE director-general Kevin Bakhurst. Extra.ie praised the decision as trolling. Other countries including Spain, Slovenia, the Netherlands, and Iceland also declined to send competitors. Slovenia will air documentaries under “Voices of Palestine,” Spain will run a music programme, and the boycott followed calls to change Eurovision rules after concerns about Israel’s Yuval Raphael receiving the most public votes last year.

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