Ireland's act for this year's Eurovision has been revealed

The song representing Ireland at the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Israel has been revealed.

Sarah McTernan, from Scariff in Co. Clare, is set to perform '22', a track written by Janieck, Marcia Sondeijker and Roulsen, at the second Eurovision Semi Final on May 16. The 24-year-old, a former contestant on The Voice of Ireland, will debut the song on Dancing with the Stars on RTÉ One on Sunday, March 10.

RTÉ have also shared the music video for '22', directed by Christian Tierney.

For better to for worse, Sarah may yet find herself at the centre of a major political row. Over the coming weeks, the pressure on RTÉ to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest in Israel is likely to intensify.

In 2019, this not just about taking a general position on the Israeli appropriation of Palestinian land.

The decision of the US President Donald Trump to shift the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has been seen as an intensely provocative move, given the divided nature of what is sometimes called the Holy City. In the context, the battle for hearts and minds seems more urgent than ever, and is likely to inspire a concerted push by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement to ensure that it turns into a PR disaster for the Israeli government.

Already more than 60 LGBTQIA groups, from nearly 20 countries, have called for a boycott, under the No To Pinkwashing banner.

The signatories to the boycott call have condemned Israel’s “shameful” use of Eurovision, which has a strong following among LGBTQIA communities, accusing the Israeli government of using it to “distract attention from its war crimes against Palestinians” and “forward its pinkwashing agenda, the cynical use of gay rights to distract from and normalise Israel’s occupation, settler colonialism and apartheid.”

The statement, initiated by Palestinian queer groups, recalls the 1969 Stonewall Riots symbolizing LGBTQIA resistance against daily harassment and violence, drawing parallels with the tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza protesting, through the Great March of Return, decades of Israel’s violent oppression and denial of fundamental rights.

Since March 2018, Israeli army snipers have shot and killed more than 200 unarmed Palestinians participating in the protests in Gaza, injuring an astonishing 18,000 and leaving many with life-changing disabilities. Amnesty International has condemned the Israeli actions  as deliberate attempts to kill and maim.