Ireland's Eurovision entrant Sarah McTernan has robustly defended her decision to perform in Israel at this year's Eurovision Song Contest.
There have been calls for Ireland to boycott the contest and protests have been held outside RTE's studio in Donnybrook over Israel's treatment of Palestinians.
A petition with 16,000 signatures was also handed in to RTE's director-general Dee Forbes.
Speaking to Extra.ie, Sarah said she was "honoured" to be representing Ireland despite the controversy surrounding the event.
The Clare native said: "Obviously everyone has their own opinions. And I respect everybody’s opinions completely and utterly.
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"For me, I am just honoured to be representing in Eurovision for Ireland in 2019.
"It is all about the music and about bringing people together and you would only have to be at the Eurovision events, one of the mixers, to know that it really does bring people together."
"People from all walks of life. It really is heartwarming. I have made true friends for life.
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"For me, music is about love, about friendship and bringing people together and that is what it is all about."
Sarah, 25, will be taking to the stage in Tel Aviv tomorrow night to perform this year's tune '22' in the semi-finals.
The finals will take place on Saturday night.
