Irish Broadcaster RTE Confirms Second Consecutive Eurovision Boycott

Ireland's national broadcaster RTE has confirmed it will boycott the Eurovision Song Contest for a second consecutive year, according to a report by Anadolu Agency.

In a statement cited by the news agency, RTE said it "also remains deeply concerned by continued denial of independent access to international journalists" to Gaza.

The broadcaster's statement links its decision to broader concerns about media access to the Palestinian territory amid the ongoing conflict there, though further details of RTE's reasoning were not provided in the available statement.

Eurovision, organized by the European Broadcasting Union, has faced scrutiny in recent years over the participation of Israel's broadcaster amid the war in Gaza, with several national broadcasters and public figures across Europe calling for reconsideration of Israel's involvement in the contest.

This marks the second year in a row that RTE has opted out of the contest, according to Anadolu Agency's report.

Neither RTE nor the European Broadcasting Union have issued additional public comment beyond the cited statement at the time of this report.