Irish Eurovision entrant Bambie Thug, who was among the ten acts qualifying from the first semi-final on Tuesday, the first Irish act to do so since 2018, has shared a statement on Instagram following the ogham controversy.

Bambie Thug said they were ordered by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to change their stage makeup before the semi-final to keep with the competition’s rules against political statements, as the artist had written the words 'Ceasefire’ and ‘Freedom for Palestine’ in the early medieval ogham alphabet.

Today, the singer took to Instagram to post a statement about the situation, alongside a cover of The Cranberries’ ‘Zombie’.

 

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"I know many of you have varying opinions on my position at the moment,” the statement reads, “but I am truly doing everything in my power that I can to support.”

The singer went on to explain that they were asked to remove both 'Free Palestine' and 'Ceasefire' in ogham from their outfit, but that their delegation fought until the EBU agreed to letting 'Ceasefire' remain, before eventually going back on their decision an hour before Bambie Thug's call time:

"I was informed that they had an internal meeting and ‘ceasefire’ was no longer acceptable," the singer said, "and if I didn’t remove this I would not be allowed on stage.”

"I am pro-justice and pr- peace and this will never change, I only hope with a platform I can reach more people's ears."

The singer added that being pro-Palestinian did not make them anti-semetic, but instead "anti-war, anti-occupation, anti-oppression and anti-killing of innocent civilians and children."

Bambie Thug has come under pressure to pull out of this year's competition by various pro-Palestine campaigners due to Israel participation and their military operation in Gaza, although the singer has consistently argued that there needed to be pro-Palestinian voice at this year’s Eurovision.

A large-scale protest in Malmö, Sweden has been planned to coincide with Israel’s performance at the semi-final today.