Photosales
niJobfinder
niCarfinder
Home Delivery
Propertynews
John Reid slams Rangers fans' 'racist' song
Monday, 29 September 2008
Celtic chairman John Reid last night condemned as “racist” one of the songs chanted by Rangers fans at the recent Old Firm derby.
Former Northern Ireland Secretary Mr Reid, who also warned he would not tolerate offensive chanting by his own club’s supporters, has written to Hoops fans about the controversy which erupted after last month’s clash between the sides.
Celtic supporters contacted the club to complain about the Famine Song chanted by sections of the Rangers following during their 4-2 victory at Parkhead on August 31.
The Ibrox club has since asked their fans to refrain from singing the song, which refers to the Great Famine which killed an estimated 1m in the 1840s and led to the emigration of millions of others.
It includes the line: “The famine’s over, why don’t you go home?”
Rangers also sought guidance from Strathclyde Police on the matter with a view to making singing the song an arrestable offence, although the Rangers Supporters Trust defended the chant, saying it was not racist, and no worse than any other football song.
Mr Reid has now sought to clarify Celtic’s position on the matter, saying he had “no hesitation” in condemning the song as “racist and deeply offensive”.
He said: “As both Rangers Football Club and Strathclyde Police have stated, the content of the song — which is directed against the community of Irish descent in Scotland — is in breach of Race Relations legislation and exposes its perpetrators to the risk of prosecution.
“The Irish Famine was a human tragedy of immense proportions. It is one of the few such events for which the British Government has expressed specific regret for its share of responsibility.
“Few of those who sing this song will have stopped to think that famine is non-sectarian and the millions of people who died or were forced into mass emigration — some of them to Scotland — were from all faiths and traditions within Ireland.
“We should condemn racism and sectarianism without fear or favour wherever they arise. That is an essential part of Celtic Football Club’s ethos.”
Mr Reid added: “In condemning the actions of others, Celtic must always be vigilant with regard to our own conduct and reputation.
“Celtic supporters have received well-earned international plaudits in recent years for the way in which they conduct themselves at home and abroad.”
The aftermath of the August 31 derby saw Irish diplomats raise concerns with the Scottish Government over Rangers fans' chanting.
It is understood a Celtic supporter complained to the Irish Embassy in London, with the matter referred to the Irish Consul in Edinburgh.
That was followed by the Stormont sports minister saying he was unlikely to accept an invitation to Parkhead after pro-IRA chanting by Celtic fans.
DUP MP Gregory Campbell wrote to Mr Reid to complain about songs sung by Hoops fans during their September 13 game at Motherwell.
- Text Size
Comments
27 Comments
Agree with Gareth, if any of you want to youtube Celtic fans singing pro IRA songs, it's all there to see. Please don't lecture us on chanting.
Posted by Steve | 24.10.08, 09:10 GMT
Perhaps Mr Reid will be so quick to condemn those Celtic fans at Old Trafford on Tuesday night who were very clearly singing the pro-IRA song 'Graffitti on the wall' on numerous occassions throughout the match?
Posted by gareth | 24.10.08, 01:18 GMT
How nice of Steve to give us a history lesson on the colours of the Irish Tri-colour and how Orange is not the official colour but gold is.
I　find that hard to believe that a country would design a flag and put it into production then decide half way done the track that they could not find enough dye.
Come on mate , where did you get a story like that , you must read a lot of comics,ha,ha.
Posted by steve douglas | 01.10.08, 15:26 GMT
Steve,
Thanks for the contribution on our flag. I'm afraid you are wrong the flag is officially and in reality Green, White and Orange. I assume you are amusing your self by having a go at our state with papal references etc etc but that doesn't change the simple facts of the colours that make up the flag.
The symbolism of the mixing of Green and Orange in the flag clearly has no basis in reality as it pertains to the Republic but that don't change the facts!
Posted by Jake M | 01.10.08, 15:09 GMT
Jake M,
While I am totally in agreement with most of your comments and very pleased to see them put so eloquently, I'm afraid that the Irish flag is officially Green, White and Gold. The gold was put there to symbolise papal authority but without consideration as to where large quantities of Gold dye could be bought from. As a consequence orange dye was used instead and this practice is so prevalent that most think today that it is the official colour.
Posted by steve | 01.10.08, 11:22 GMT
Can you imagine if people chanted songs about the holocust being over and that Jews should go back to Isreal the outrage and world uproar. Since it was about the Irish...although some have spoken out...there is no world outrage and lots of people feel it is within the rights of the rangers fans to sing it...
Posted by kathy C | 01.10.08, 03:13 GMT
Brian says "Neither of them want to be Scottish."
If you go to Ibrox you will see British flags ie Ulster flag,Union Jack and the St Andrews cross and hear the national anthem being sung.
When Celtic went to the US on tour they displayed an Irish Tri-colour,which is a foreign flag, not British.I have yet to see any Union Jacks displayed at Parkhead or St Andrews cross flags.
Posted by steve douglas | 01.10.08, 02:28 GMT
To Brian who compares the Old Firm games to the English Premiership and calls them second rate.
Thats hardly a fair comparison as Rangers reached the UEFA cup final last year which was very good and was better than any English Premiership team outside the Top 4, better than Everton,Spurs,Portsmouth or Newcastle.
Comparsion to the English Premiership is hardly fair as the Top 4 in the English Premiership is all about money,and money talks.
I am a Liverpool and Rangers fan and the difference between them is money,Torres compared to Darcheville,its all pounds.
Adebayor Berbatov,Rooney,Real bound Ronaldo,its all about the cold hard cash.
Posted by steve douglas | 01.10.08, 02:23 GMT
To Jake , I think that when posters talk about "solutions" to issues it reminds me of a 1930s politician with a distinctive little moustache who spoke about solutions , more accurately "final solutions".
Posted by steve douglas | 01.10.08, 02:17 GMT
To Jake ,I did not realise it was tongue in cheek.
I was born in Belfast Northern Ireland and am an Ulsterman and British.
Having said that I and some mates have cheered on the Irish Republic football team in the World Cup as well as England,unfortuantely Northern Ireland or Scotland never make the finals much.
I remember watching Robbie Keane and Damien Duff`s heroics in Japan/Korea.
I agree that people should learn to respect each other .
Posted by steve douglas | 01.10.08, 00:19 GMT
Steve Douglas the "solution" was tongue in cheek. We Irish, Northern Irish, Scots, English, Danes etc are a complex mix of movements of peoples and mixing of genes over centuries. That makes people interesting. We all need to learn to respect each other which has been a problem in these small islands of ours. We have in fact a lot in common which gets lost in all this nonsense. I am a Dubliner and welcome very much the recent influx of people to the Republic - it makes for a more interesting country and now over 10% of our population was born outside the country. I hope many of these will become loyal citizens of our republic over the coming years - lets have more diversity not less.
Mickey btw I'm sure its of no interest to you but the Irish flag is Green, White and Orange (not Gold)!
Posted by Jake M | 30.09.08, 17:29 GMT
Brian says "Neither of them want to be Scottish."
You may recall prior to various Champions League clashes at Ibrox down the years, the home fans have created a giant Saltire (using blue & white coloured cards) filling an entire end of the ground. A great spectacle and one which highlights their pride in being Scottish first and foremost.
Across the city, what colourful display did the celtic fans create? Lets just say the colours involved green, white & gold. In fact, has anyone EVER seen a Scotland flag unfurled at a celtic match???
Posted by mickey | 30.09.08, 15:24 GMT
Reply to Jake who said that the Ulster Scots should go back to Scotland.
I wonder if history may show that the Celts came from mainland Europe , from what is now France and Germany.
So maybe if we are telling people to back where they came from , then we should research where are ancestors came from.
Posted by steve douglas | 30.09.08, 15:05 GMT
Its clear that both sides in this are as bad as each other. The Irish
Consul has definitely no place in this and should keep its nose out.
As repugnant as the song is there may be a "solution" in the Ranger's famine song. The Rangers supporters tell the Celts to return to Ireland now the famine is over as they have only caused trouble in Scotland. I think many in Ireland would feel that trouble has followed the Scots that came here! So why not suggest a swap - we take back our Celts and in return the Scots in north east Ireland take their place back in Scotland and both sides promise not to meddle in each other affairs again!
Posted by Jake M | 30.09.08, 14:29 GMT
Is it only as bad as there quoted and no worse? Is it addressed to specifically pro-IRA Hiberno-Scots or to all Irish Catholic Scots? The law must be careful with speech, and should err on the side of liberty, but opinion is free itself and will hopefully rid us of racism wherever it persists. And yet one wonders why certain IRA supporters continued to live in Britain while Eire the Celtic Tiger thrived. Surely a multitude of reasons.
Posted by Rowan | 30.09.08, 09:25 GMT
Who cares about Rangers or Celtic. They are both terrible football clubs. One sings about wanting to be Irish along with all their pro IRA songs, and the other wants to be British along with all their pro UVF/UDA etc songs. Neither of them want to be Scottish.
If they are so good, they would win all games outside the Old Firm as the Scottish Premier League isn't really a decent competition. But they don't, which proves my point from the second sentence.
They could never compete in the English Premier League. They're not even good enough for The Championship!
Get over yourselves "Old Firm". You will always be second rate...
Posted by Brian | 30.09.08, 04:09 GMT
as a celtic fan i take no offence to this both sets of fans sing about the ira and uvf! its a bit of banter no to be taken too serious get over it everyone were alls as bad as each other when it comes to football!
Posted by jim m | 29.09.08, 20:53 GMT
Are some more equal than others?
Posted by Robert Boyd | 29.09.08, 18:53 GMT
Did John Reid condemn the Scottish supporters booing of the national anthem and their venomous anti English chants at the recent N.I Scotland international.No, not one word from him on this subject,it seems Mr Reid is very selective in who he condemns maybe his job at celtic colours his views more than just a little.
Posted by ROBERT | 29.09.08, 18:16 GMT
John Reid needs to take of his sectarian blinkers off and realise that this story has two sides to it?
Is he naive to the songs celtic sing about the ira terriosts does he remember what pain they have inflicted over the years ( la mon) and yet they sing freely,
Posted by Andrew | 29.09.08, 17:56 GMT
27 Comments