Ireland | Dublin Lord Mayor Says Ireland Should Boycott Eurovision 2019

It has just been shy of 24 hours since Israel won the Eurovision Song Contest, where we had an record equalling 43 countries compete. But could be one withdrawing from next years edition already? The Dublin Lord Mayor Mícheál Mac Donncha has called for the Emerald Isle to withdraw due to the contest taking place in Israel.

He believes that Ireland should stand alongside the people of Palestine in a stance of solidarity and compete in Israel. Israel and Palestine have been in conflict on multiple occasions dating as far back as 1964, with their most recent conflict surrounding the ownership of the land within the Gaza Strip, for which the conflict has been on since 2006, and has cost the lives of many Israeli and Palestine people.

“I think the horrific ordeal of the Palestinian people needs to be highlighted. There needs to be solidarity just as there was with the people of South Africa with the apartheid regime.”

Mac Donncha has also recently been given a ban from entering the country of Israel after attending a conference in the de facto capital of Palestine, Ramallah. RTE has yet to confrim or deny their participation in Eurovision 2019, however if they choose to withdraw, it'll be the first time since 2002 that Ireland have not featured in the contest. In Lisbon, early finally broke their non-qualification which spanned as far back as 2014, when Ryan O'Shuaghnessy qualified for the first time in five years into the final with his heartfelt ballad "Together" he went on to place 16th in the final with 136 points, which is Ireland's highest finish since 2011 when Jedward ahcieved 8th place with their song "Lipstick" it was later revealed Ryan qualified out of the semi final in 6th place with 179 points, including three lots of twelve points in the televote from Austria, Belgium and Spain respectively.

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