Why RTÉ should not agree to boycott Eurovision

‘Reverse-censorship’ of the song contest in Israel next year would only legitimise the Israeli state’s own censorship and growing illiberalism

RTÉ is again the focus of a fight over freedom of expression. But whereas previously the left-liberal cause was freedom, this time it’s censorship.

For the duration of the Troubles, Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act prohibited people speaking on behalf of the IRA and Sinn Féin being heard on the airwaves - despite opposition to the ban from many on the left. The ban finally lapsed in 1994 when, as Minister for ...