Sir, – Recent calls for the Republic of Ireland men’s football team to boycott the match against Israel, much like the decision for Ireland to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest, are well-intentioned but risk overlooking the opportunities these events can provide.
Rather than an empty or silent Aviva Stadium in October, imagine 50,000 Irish supporters using the occasion to send a powerful anti-war message through music and solidarity.
Songs such as John Lennon’s Give Peace a Chance or Edwin Starr’s version of War (“What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!”) echoing around the stadium could make a far greater impact, both on those present and on audiences watching around the world.
Irish songs such as Grace and The Green Fields of France could also bring a distinctive local voice and emotional resonance to the occasion.
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A similar approach could have been taken with Eurovision. Instead of a boycott by a small number of countries, a more striking statement might have been for participating nations – perhaps with the exception of Israel – to submit songs centred on peace and opposition to war. Three evenings of performances carrying a unified anti-war message would probably have carried a powerful message far beyond the competition itself. – Yours, etc,
Pádraig Kirwan,
Mooncoin,
Co Kilkenny.
Sir, – I refer to Laura Slattery’s article on the Eurovision Song Contest (“Eurovision 2026: Who is boycotting and could Israel win?,” Music, May 11th), with the section responding to the question: “Why is Israel allowed to participate when Russia was barred in 2022?”
Your journalist does not give the core argument of those who are not boycotting.
Russia and Ukraine are both members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). As one attacked the other and that situation continues, there would be very obvious difficulties in having both agreeing to peacefully participate in an entertainment spectacle.
The country subject to the aggression would inevitably withdraw (along, probably, with countries sympathetic to them), thereby rewarding the aggressor and resulting in a chaotic situation for the event. I believe a similar argument underpins the decision to bar Russia from the World Cup, etc.
There is no Palestinian state (yet) that participates in Eurovision, World Cups or similar, so the above potentially chaotic situation is much less likely to arise (and the handful of Eurovision boycotters is not causing a huge issue for the holding of that event).
“The show must go on” is the key driving sentiment and that is the main argument for barring Russia and not considering a ban on Israel (whether they deserve a ban is outside the scope of this letter). Only with full Palestinian statehood (and their active participation in such events) would a fully comparable situation with the barring of Russia potentially arise. – Yours, etc,
George Laird,
Rue de Pulvermuhl,
Luxembourg,
