Johnny Logan Supports Ireland’s Eurovision 2026 Boycott Over Israel

Eurovision icon Johnny Logan has backed his home country’s decision to withdraw from the competition.

Johnny earned himself the moniker the “King Of Eurovision” when he became the first act to win the song contest on three different occasions, as Ireland’s representative in 1980 and 1987, and as the writer of Linda Martin’s winning entry in 1992.

Last year, he backed calls for Israel to be removed from the Eurovision Song Contest in light of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, similar to how Russia was banned in 2022 after its invasion of Ukraine.

“I really feel that in this case, RTÉ definitely made the right decision,” he told The Week in December 2025, after Ireland’s broadcaster withdrew from Eurovision in solidarity with Palestine.

He continued: “I don’t think that Israel should be allowed to hide under the umbrella of the Eurovision [and] make it look as though, everything’s okay, business as usual, because it’s not. I think most people in Ireland would agree with that.”

Since then, Johnny has revealed he has repeatedly turned down offers to perform at Eurovision in light of the controversy.

“I’ve been asked three times, four times to be involved with the Eurovision Song Contest, the actual show this year, and I’ve had to say no because of my support,” he told Ireland AM at the end of April.

Noting that he’s “not antisemitic [nor] pro-Hamas or anything like that”, he continued: “I was asked to make my decision. My decision is to support the Irish Government and the Irish television position on this.

“I just wanted to make that clear because I get all these people I see on Facebook saying, ‘Johnny Logan says you can’t watch the Eurovision’. That’s not something I ever said.”

At the end of last year, Ireland was the first nation to pull out of Eurovision 2026 due to Israel’s involvement, followed quickly by Spain, The Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland.

Eurovision 2026 officially gets underway in Basel, Austria this week, with the first semi-final airing on Tuesday, following singer JJ’s victory last year.