The Celtic Thread

rhodeboyblue wrote: That last post from Territorial was one of the best posts I have read in a while. I haven't posted here in a while as I am sick to sh#t of the Rangers v Celtic negativity in these islands. As a southern bear life is not easy and also being coi mem er does not help. I wish we could get back our differences being football rather than politics and religion. Here is a good article from belfast telegraph today. Would love the thoughts of celtic fans because I have left bars in limerick when this crap starts up as an excuse for music. Celtic and rangers have to move away from this culture. Thanks for reading. Opinion: Michelle, how is it ‘respectful’ to taunt victims in rebel songs By Nelson McCausland • 8 hours ago Last Friday night, Linfield and Celtic met at Windsor Park. Celtic FC had turned down their allocation of tickets for the match and a number of bars in west Belfast showed the match on their premises on large screens for Celtic supporters. One of these was the Rock Bar on the Falls Road, which describes itself as ‘Ireland’s Biggest Rebel Bar’ and ‘Belfast’s Home to Glasgow Celtic’. As well as the match, the patrons were entertained by singers Gary Lawlor, Rising of the Moon and Damien Quinn in the upstairs bar and Gerry Og and Spirit of Freedom in the downstairs bar. ADVERTISEMENT Meanwhile, up at the Devenish Arms, the site of the Celtic fanzone, the entertainers were Damien Quinn, The Irish Brigade and Gary Lawlor. They may not be household names around the world, but the singers are well-known to those with a love of ‘Irish republican culture’. Damien, Gary and Gerry are all regulars at the weekly ‘Rebel Sunday’ in the Rock Bar and their performances are always appreciated by the enthusiastic patrons. ADVERTISEMENT Quinn has even written a song about ‘Rebel Sunday’ and one line explains that ‘Gerry Og and Damien Quinn sing the songs of the IRA’. Indeed they do. And they are not the only ones. The ‘rebel music’ repertoire includes republican songs such as My Old Man’s A Provo, My Little Armalite and The IRA Will Set Them Free. The titles alone explain what ‘rebel music’ is about. You might imagine that The SAM Song is about someone called Sam, but how wrong you would be. It is actually about the delight of an IRA terrorist when the IRA were able to acquire a surface-to-air missile (or SAM). One of the most popular songs on the ‘rebel music’ scene has the lyrics: “Go on home, British soldiers, go on home/have you got no f****** homes of your own? F*** your Union Jack/we want our country back.” Another popular rebel song has the title 18 Brits Were Blew To Bits and it is a celebration of IRA atrocities and murders. These include the massacre of 18 soldiers near Warrenpoint, the murder of nine RUC officers in a mortar attack in Newry, the murder of Lord Mountbatten and the killings of Lord Justice Maurice Gibson and his wife, Lady Cecily. It is a litany of death and yet customers dance to it and sing along, celebrating the IRA bombs and the slaughter. At the Warrenpoint inquest, a doctor said he found dead and injured men, scattered limbs and decapitated bodies, but some people seem to think that these murders are a good subject for pumped-up, alcohol-fuelled entertainment. Of course, such ‘rebel music’ is not limited to bars and clubs in west Belfast. The same songs can be heard any week of the year at many venues elsewhere in Northern Ireland, the Republic and some parts of Scotland. There is a whole Irish rebel music scene and it is popular, but it is ugly, it is sectarian and it is poisonous. Songs have the power to mould and motivate, so what sort of influence is there in songs such as these? You may remember the Sinn Fein election posters demanding ‘respect’ and you may have heard Michelle O’Neill and other Sinn Fein politicians talking about the importance of “respect”. So here is a question for Michelle O’Neill: where is the respect for the innocent victims of the IRA? Where is the respect for the families of those who were so callously murdered by the IRA? The ‘18 Brits’ were 18 young men and they had families, so where is the respect for those who still mourn the loss of their loved ones? The nine police officers had families too, so where is the respect for them? If we are to build a shared and better future in Northern Ireland, then there are many issues that must be addressed. And when that list of issues is being drawn up, then surely this dark underbelly of Irish culture has to be one of them?

should have stopped reading when I got to "good article from Belfast telegraph" but definitely stopped reading when I seen it was written by that bigot McCausland.


Edited by BrendanD88 - 21 Jul 2017 at 7:32am

BrendanD88 wrote: rhodeboyblue wrote: That last post from Territorial was one of the best posts I have read in a while. I haven't posted here in a while as I am sick to sh#t of the Rangers v Celtic negativity in these islands. As a southern bear life is not easy and also being coi mem er does not help. I wish we could get back our differences being football rather than politics and religion. Here is a good article from belfast telegraph today. Would love the thoughts of celtic fans because I have left bars in limerick when this crap starts up as an excuse for music. Celtic and rangers have to move away from this culture. Thanks for reading. Opinion: Michelle, how is it ‘respectful’ to taunt victims in rebel songs By Nelson McCausland • 8 hours ago Last Friday night, Linfield and Celtic met at Windsor Park. Celtic FC had turned down their allocation of tickets for the match and a number of bars in west Belfast showed the match on their premises on large screens for Celtic supporters. One of these was the Rock Bar on the Falls Road, which describes itself as ‘Ireland’s Biggest Rebel Bar’ and ‘Belfast’s Home to Glasgow Celtic’. As well as the match, the patrons were entertained by singers Gary Lawlor, Rising of the Moon and Damien Quinn in the upstairs bar and Gerry Og and Spirit of Freedom in the downstairs bar. ADVERTISEMENT Meanwhile, up at the Devenish Arms, the site of the Celtic fanzone, the entertainers were Damien Quinn, The Irish Brigade and Gary Lawlor. They may not be household names around the world, but the singers are well-known to those with a love of ‘Irish republican culture’. Damien, Gary and Gerry are all regulars at the weekly ‘Rebel Sunday’ in the Rock Bar and their performances are always appreciated by the enthusiastic patrons. ADVERTISEMENT Quinn has even written a song about ‘Rebel Sunday’ and one line explains that ‘Gerry Og and Damien Quinn sing the songs of the IRA’. Indeed they do. And they are not the only ones. The ‘rebel music’ repertoire includes republican songs such as My Old Man’s A Provo, My Little Armalite and The IRA Will Set Them Free. The titles alone explain what ‘rebel music’ is about. You might imagine that The SAM Song is about someone called Sam, but how wrong you would be. It is actually about the delight of an IRA terrorist when the IRA were able to acquire a surface-to-air missile (or SAM). One of the most popular songs on the ‘rebel music’ scene has the lyrics: “Go on home, British soldiers, go on home/have you got no f****** homes of your own? F*** your Union Jack/we want our country back.” Another popular rebel song has the title 18 Brits Were Blew To Bits and it is a celebration of IRA atrocities and murders. These include the massacre of 18 soldiers near Warrenpoint, the murder of nine RUC officers in a mortar attack in Newry, the murder of Lord Mountbatten and the killings of Lord Justice Maurice Gibson and his wife, Lady Cecily. It is a litany of death and yet customers dance to it and sing along, celebrating the IRA bombs and the slaughter. At the Warrenpoint inquest, a doctor said he found dead and injured men, scattered limbs and decapitated bodies, but some people seem to think that these murders are a good subject for pumped-up, alcohol-fuelled entertainment. Of course, such ‘rebel music’ is not limited to bars and clubs in west Belfast. The same songs can be heard any week of the year at many venues elsewhere in Northern Ireland, the Republic and some parts of Scotland. There is a whole Irish rebel music scene and it is popular, but it is ugly, it is sectarian and it is poisonous. Songs have the power to mould and motivate, so what sort of influence is there in songs such as these? You may remember the Sinn Fein election posters demanding ‘respect’ and you may have heard Michelle O’Neill and other Sinn Fein politicians talking about the importance of “respect”. So here is a question for Michelle O’Neill: where is the respect for the innocent victims of the IRA? Where is the respect for the families of those who were so callously murdered by the IRA? The ‘18 Brits’ were 18 young men and they had families, so where is the respect for those who still mourn the loss of their loved ones? The nine police officers had families too, so where is the respect for them? If we are to build a shared and better future in Northern Ireland, then there are many issues that must be addressed. And when that list of issues is being drawn up, then surely this dark underbelly of Irish culture has to be one of them? should have stopped reading when I got to "good article from Belfast telegraph" but definitely stopped reading when I seen it was written by that bigot McCausland.

'There is a whole Irish rebel music scene and it is popular, but it is ugly, it is sectarian and it is poisonous.'


I'd disagree strongly with that and i dont think the article is balenced at all. Its seems to insinuate that all irish folk/ rebel songs are sectarian in nature, as are thosw who enjoy them, which is garbage. (We've adopted a rebel song as our national anthem lets not forget) It's more accurate to say that there has been a significant increase in militant 'rebel' songs that have been written about the provos and the troubles (including all the ones referenced by the Admiral). But these obviously are obviously more prevalent in the republican hot beds in the black north then anywhere else(all though not exclusively, the state of someone writing a 'Ballad of Alan Ryan')

I think we can differentiate these songs from those recorded by the Dubliners, Christy Moore, etc etc which tend to focus more on the historical aspects of the republican movement (foggy dew, the ballad of james larkin, Athenry ect)

manchesterbhoy wrote: can beat an offended bluenose when they partake in the following: sash bash on paisley road west on wednesday - glorifying UDA UVF etc loyalist flute bands at windsor park when glasgow and belfast cousins meet  the hypocrites glorifying child abuse - lest we forget kincora, gordon neilly and others UVF banners at ibrokes  oldco players in UVF uniform and flag bearing and finally the bonfires you call culture  people in glass houses..............

Premier Sports are showing the second leg of the Rosenborg tie.

Edited by Double Maxim - 21 Jul 2017 at 1:27pm

Class banners and display by the Green Brigade against Linfield

Great Brigade banned for 2 home games

Rosenborg & Hearts

zizu Kilbane wrote: Some twitter rumblings that Rodgers was less then impressed with the banners to say the least

Not sure how true or not that is, but Brendan would be best advised to keep his own counsel on this situation and not to air any feelings about the fans display in public

Newryrep wrote: DUBLIN DOC wrote: zizu Kilbane wrote: Some twitter rumblings that Rodgers was less then impressed with the banners to say the least Not sure how true or not that is, but Brendan would be best advised to keep his own counsel on this situation and not to air any feelings about the fans display in public Censorship Mmm an interesting concept

Mmmmm call it what you will Newry republican, but Brendan would be well advised to let the club do all the talking about the fans behaviour and not get himself involved in this