Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Lots of people still getting in touch on that number about the ambulance strike. We might come back to it in a few minutes, but something else that's happening today I want to talk about. Or is it happening? Maybe not if your TV schedule is to be believed. The Eurovision Song Contest first semi-final on tonight, but not on RTE television. Mark is on the line. Mark, how do you feel about that?
Not a happy man, Ciarán, to be honest with you. Truth be told, I'd be someone who would be watching Eurovision for donkey's years at this stage. And myself, I wouldn't have any of the Sky or an MTL box or anything like that. I'm purely a Serbian household. I wouldn't be exactly excited and delighted at the fact that RTA have refused to show it.
So were you upset in December when RT announced that they wouldn't be participating?
I was in shock. The others we took care of, I was in deep shock. It was, I remember it was, I think it was Thursday or Friday, the announcement came out from that EPU meeting that they set up for this year's Eurovision. It was within the hour RTE unilaterally announced that Ireland won't be taking part and we won't be broadcasting it.
Now, whatever about boycotting the participation in the contest is one thing, but to be refusing to broadcast the whole contest is another thing altogether in my books.
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Chapter 2: Why is RTÉ not broadcasting the Eurovision this year?
Did you assume that it would be broadcast? Fair enough, right. We won't be there. I disagree with it, but at least it'll be on the telly.
I was convinced that Marty Whelan would have been over there, to be honest with you. I was convinced that it would have been Marty Whelan over there. We might not have had a contestant, but we still would have had the usual build-up to the Eurovision. We would have had the two shows in the week, the semi-finals, and we would have had the final on Saturday.
Instead, I'm having to resort to a VPN and accessing a foreign broadcaster to sort of get my Eurovision fix. And it doesn't seem right that RTA are depriving the nation access to what really is just a classy X Factor when it comes to show if it's a cultural event.
Explain that to people who've never used a VPN, never come into contact with one, don't know what you mean. What do you mean when you say I'm going to use a VPN?
I'm here in Dublin and It's sort of an app that has your computer or your tablet convinced that it's, say, in Britain or Australia or America, and it'll let you access the stations over there. It'd be sort of like, say, if I was abroad trying to access RTE, I'd use this app to access the RTE player. So it's sort of the other way around.
So you can access the RTE player in Ireland and the BBC iPlayer in the UK, and this tricks your phone or tablet into thinking you're in one country or the other.
Yeah, I had a dry run last night. How did it go? Perfect. Strangely enough, I was a bit worried. I've never done anything like this before with a VPN or trickery, but I never had to, to be honest with you, Ciarán. It was always a fair few households and the light were what they gave me.
But I had a dry run last night and I was able to get the BBC in my telly and I was able to get the SBS in Australia on the telly. So I have a choice between the two of them for tonight and for Thursday night and for Saturday evening.
So do you think maybe after this is done and dusted, you get a flavour now, a taste of the BBC? You'll be sitting down watching their Sunday evening drama on your VPN.
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Chapter 3: How did Mark react to RTÉ's decision to boycott Eurovision?
It isn't in our nature to be boycotting events, especially events that we have formal winning.
Yeah. In Moscow, did they compete under the Olympic flag in Moscow? I don't think we flew the tricolour. Is that what happened?
I think that was the case, but I do remember that... We won two medals in Moscow.
We won a sailing medal and a boxing medal.
Exactly. And we had, more importantly, we had Jimmy McGee there acting as a commentator. RTE was giving the nation what they wanted back then.
You think Marty Whelan should be in Vienna, not Montrose?
Yeah. I think this would have been his 26th, 27th Eurovision. And for me personally, it's not going to be the same without his unique sort of parlance when it comes to announcing the fellow competitors. It's not going to be the same for me this year.
So we got on to RTE management, as you'd expect. They say they had no comment to make about the scheduling decision tonight beyond the statement they issued last December, which was about the statement to not participate following the EBU's Winter General Assembly, etc., etc. RTE feels Ireland's participation remains unconscionable.
Given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there, which continues to put the lives of so many civilians at risk, RTE remains deeply concerned by the targeted killing of journalists in Gaza during the conflict and the continued denial of access to international journalists to the territory, which is what they said last December.
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Chapter 4: What alternatives are listeners considering for watching Eurovision?
But this was the other side completely. It was to bring people together without the political divisions and just dress up in your binary for one evening, sit around and enjoy a good bit of music. And that's the way I feel it anyway.
Well, Mark, listen, despite it being on the VPN and you having to listen to Graham Norton instead of, is it, instead of Marty Whelan?
Oh, no, no, no. I'm going with the Australian feeling.
Oh, you're going with the Australian feeling.
this chap he was on Celebrity Big Brother about 10 years ago I was a good laugh so I'm looking forward to that but it'll not be the same OK you're going to watch the Aussies let me bring in Andy Andy do you agree with the RTE decision not to show the Eurovision tonight of course of course I do that man has no consideration for human life all the people that have been murdered in Gaza disgraceful and we should be going forward we should be taking more action against the Israelis not just a boycott of the show
Sorry, can I reply to that?
Yeah, Mark.
Go for it. Does that chap really believe that on Sunday morning that B.B. Netanyahu was going to look to Sarah and ask her to witness his resignation letter because Ireland didn't arrive at the Eurovision?
They must be feeling the pinch. People must be feeling the pinch, like you, who want to broadcast and it shouldn't be broadcast. And it's disgraceful what's happening over there and what has happened and is still happening. And we should be taking more form of protest.
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Chapter 5: What is a VPN and how does it help access foreign broadcasts?
The only people I know from the lack of an Irish... Sorry?
He's another Hitler.
Well, no, hold on. Let's get into name-calling like that and comparing the leader of the only Jewish state to a Nazi. But, Andy, how many lives in Gaza will be saved by Ireland boycotting the Eurovision?
I suppose that not many lives will be saved, but it's a form of protest, and it's only right that we do it.
Yeah. Sorry, but how is isolating and becoming an isolationist state regarding culture going to do that, going to achieve anything? How is putting the wall up around ourselves to be moderately pure on this topic going to achieve anything, when diplomatic approaches are the only way? I'm sure you agree.
It shows we're supporting the people of Palestine. We're not interested in Israel. We're supporting the people of Palestine.
Right, but how is this contest anything to do with Israel or Palestine?
They shouldn't be allowed to compete because there's no humanitarian aspect to this. I know the whole nation is not at it, but we have to form a protest. That's what I'm saying to you.
Well, can I ask, where does the line stop here? You don't want to go to Eurovision on the off-champs you'll see in Israeli. Do we stop going to international trade fairs on the same sort of off-champs? Do we take ourselves out of the U.S.? Do we take ourselves out of other international organizations? Look, you want to throw us into that, could you?
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