Irish Examiner view: Ask ABBA — Eurovision exit makes us feel like we win when we lose

Israel first took part in Eurovision in the year of the Yom Kippur War, 1973. Israel remains in the contest, and Ireland is gone

Benny Andersson, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Faltskog and Bjorn Ulvaeus ignited Eurovision in 1974 with 'Waterloo'. Their victory came the year after Israel's debut in the annual song contest. Picture: Olle Lindeborg/AFP/Getty

Although we may not often call him to mind, there are at least two good reasons for being grateful to the Roman poet Juvenal. He’s known as the founding father of satire, and he gifted us the useful phrase “panem et circenses”. 

It was his view that politicians, the “patricians”, preferred to keep the public, the “plebeians” onside by providing plentiful food and entertainment. That’s where the bread and circuses came in.