Groundhog day

Groundhog day

The old black ash football pitch which once stood behind St Roch’s Primary school in Glasgow’s Garngad area was a tough setting to play on. The surface was uneven and rough and the pitch seemed enormous to us primary aged footballers. Every other Saturday we would play there against similarly bemused youngsters from other schools and often had the ash scraped into our skin when we had the audacity to try a sliding tackle. As a defender I was always told by the Manager, a teacher called Mr Gallagher, ‘don’t let it bounce, you can never tell where it will end up.’  As the solid weight of a Mouldmaster football dropped out of the brooding Glasgow sky like a cannon ball hurtling towards the enemy, it was my job to head it back in the direction from whence it came.  It could be a daunting prospect, especially if some forward gave you a nudge. You didn’t want one of those balls hitting you anywhere you didn’t plan on. Blocking shots could be another challenging activity as a Mouldmaster hitting you on the thigh scored a good 8 out of 10 for pain and left a red welt as a reminder. To be struck in the most delicate of places usually meant lying on the black ash in a crumpled heap for several minutes trying not cry. Such was the way Scottish kids learned to play football once upon a time. It either toughened you up or made you think that there must be less traumatic ways to spend a Saturday morning.

There was a distinct feeling of déjà vu about the place as Celtic tumbled out of the Champions League for the third successive year to a team they really should have beaten. Lessons about the need to defend well for 90 minutes and concentrate fully in European ties were not learned and the two goals Celtic lost were so preventable that they should have been wrapped in gift paper. Teams do not need to work hard to score against Celtic and that is hugely disappointing. The winning goal this week for Ferencvaros was typical of goals lost in recent qualifying matches. It consisted of a misplaced Celtic pass 25 yards from the Ferencvaros goal, a fairly aimless blooter up the park from a defender which found Celtic defender El Hammed seemingly in command of the situation. As I watched the ball sail towards him, the words of Mr Gallaher came back to me from all those years ago ‘don’t let it bounce!’  Of course, he did let it bounce and the speedy Tokmac latched onto it before skipping past a feeble attempted tackle from the Israeli to slip the ball past a goalkeeper whose positioning was, in honesty, poor.

It was like Groundhog Day; like watching the same disaster movie over and over and hoping it’ll somehow end differently. Defending like that is absolutely criminal in European football. All the good work, possession and attempts at goal are undone in few those moments of ineptitude. You could have been forgiven as you watched Ferencvaros score that goal if it brought to mind similar calamities against the likes of Maribor, Malmo, AEK Athens, Cluj or FC Copenhagen. The outcome was the same; games Celtic should have won were lost. Not because of the brilliance of the opposition but because the Hoops seem unable to defend in the manner a team of their stature should.

Celtic had 71% possession of the ball and 28 shots at goal and still contrived to lose. But as Sergei Rebrov, Ferencvaros head coach and a decent striker in his own time said…

‘They have quality players, but I think we deserved this. Most of the time we defended, but football is about scoring goals, not about the possession of the ball’

Neil Lennon was barely able to hide his anger and broke the cardinal rule of football management by criticising his players in public. He said…

‘I’m sick of seeing us making basic defensive mistakes. We did the same against Copenhagen when we were on top. He’s (El Hamed) in the right position and should deal with it. He doesn’t and we get punished. In the final third we should have been better as well because we had so many opportunities to score.  The players need to buckle up. We’ve been ok but some of their attitudes need to be better. They come and want to play for the club but I detect a little malaise sometimes among them and they’re not as good as they think they are sometimes. We have to analyse where we went wrong and make it a season to remember as we go along.’

That was strong enough from the Celtic manager but he went further in post-match interviews and blasted players he suggested have been agitating for a move…

"There are some players who may want to leave. They have made inroads into that in the last six months or so. So if they don't want to be here, we have to do something about it. If they are making waves to leave the club, they are obviously not committed. We want players committed to the club. I am not going to go into it but I am putting it out there because it has been bugging me for a long, long time."

That statement worried Celtic fans as this is a historic season for the club and they want a team which is united and committed to the cause. The club should either tell those players involved to shut up and honour their contracts in a professional manner or show them the door and get in players who will give their all for the club. With the signing of David Turnbull and the ongoing speculation about Shane Duffy it is likely Celtic will sell one or two players to recoup money in what is a difficult financial situation for football. The club is stuffed with midfielders and it wouldn’t be a surprise if N’tcham or Rogic sought a new challenge elsewhere.

A friend said to me of the Ferencvaros game, ‘Celtic’s defenders are a soft touch. They’re not physical enough and don’t intimidate anyone. They need an old style defender with balls that clang and a bit of nastiness about him.’ Shane Duffy may fit that bill as he is the sort of no-nonsense defender who clears his lines and takes no prisoners. Hopefully the Celtic board see the need for such a player and get the deal done.

Sunday’s game with Motherwell now becomes the main focus. A solid display and three points are required to steady the ship and get Celtic back on track. The fans are frustrated with another European disappointment but they know this is a big season and there is much to play for. The disappointment will pass in time; who was thinking of Copenhagen when N’tcham scored that winner in Rome against Lazio? The priority remains the league title and if that is delivered it will assuage any European frustrations.

Celtic supporters love their club. Their frustration and anger this week is born out of that love. They care too much times but that is better than not caring at all. They invested tens of millions this summer in season ticket money and merchandise with no sign that they will actually see the team in the flesh any time soon. They kick every ball, cheer every goal, share every triumph and disaster and above all are 100% committed to the team.

All they ask is that those who wear the green and white hoops do their job with the same passion and commitment.

The Canon and the Brother

The Canon and the Brother

I had a chat recently with a fan of Hibernian FC who was quite disparaging about Celtic and described them as ‘a tribute act’ and a ‘cheap imitation of Hibs.’  It would be easy to pass off his irritation with all things Celtic as jealousy that the Glasgow Irish produced a side which became a worldwide name and eclipsed the achievements of their older cousins in Edinburgh. That was always likely to be the case given the disparity in numbers supporting the two sides; there were 25,000 Irish in Edinburgh in the 1880s and ten times that number in Glasgow. Hibs were naturally limited in their early years by the size of the population supporting the club while Celtic had a huge potential for growth.

The Irish pouring off the boats at Broomielaw on the Clyde in the years after An Gorta Mor may have found work in a land being transformed by the industrial revolution but it would be the most menial and poorest paid jobs for the majority of them. So it was too with housing as unscrupulous, slum landlords subdivided rooms in the poorest parts of Glasgow for the new arrivals. Exploitation was and remains one of the bitterest fruits of unfettered capitalism. The Catholic Irish were not particularly welcome in Scotland, a land which had adopted a dogmatic and stern form of Calvinism during the reformation. Latent prejudices bubbled to the surface and predictable discrimination followed.

All Celtic fans will know that in the pivotal year of 1887 Hibernian FC won the Scottish cup and were feted in the hall of St Mary’s church in Glasgow’s east end by their admirers among the Glasgow Irish community. It was a source of pride to all that a club founded in Edinburgh’s ‘little Ireland’ could win the premier trophy in the land. Their Secretary, John McFadden said at the celebratory dinner that the Glasgow Irish should, ‘go and do likewise.’ Brother Dorotheus and Walfrid were in attendance and had long been fundraising for their charities by hosting football matches. They already knew the huge potential that existed for an Irish side in Glasgow.

John Glass, later one of Celtic’s founding fathers, had already founded a team called ‘Eastern Hibernian’ and they had played games with other Irish sides in and around Glasgow. He would have been well known to Brother Dorotheus and Walfrid through the rapidly developing football scene in Scotland. Another side called Western Hibernians played a charity match for the Poor Children’s Dinner Tables in February 1888 and contained 7 players who would help launch Celtic just a few months later. The circumstances of Celtic’s birth may owe something to the inspiration Hibs provided but it is clear that for several years leading figures in the Glasgow Irish community had been acutely aware of the potential football had for raising much needed funds for the impoverished communities of the east end for some time. They also recognised football as a potential vehicle of social integration for the Irish-Scots.

I often found the hostility some Hibs fans have towards Celtic to be a bit puzzling. Some feel Celtic ‘stole’ their best players in 1887-88 when the Glasgow side was gearing up for its inaugural season. While there is no doubt that Celtic did indeed entice some of Hibernian’s west of Scotland players to throw their lot in with the new club, it was a time when players had no formal contracts and were free to play where they chose. The game then was strictly amateur and Celtic’s willingness to pay players ‘under the table’ swung the deal for most. It wasn’t very gracious of Celtic to behave that way towards Hibs but the new club was determined to put up a side which might give the best in the Scottish game a run for their money.

Hibs went into a steep decline after the formation of Celtic. Not only did the Glasgow club poach their best players, there were also internal divisions at Hibs over Irish Home Rule and this squabbling was capped when a former secretary absconded with most of the club’s funds. The club then failed to send a representative to the inaugural meeting of the newly founded Scottish League in 1890 and were not listed among the members. They also failed to pay membership fees to the SFA in 1891 and were deleted from the list of members.  The club lost its ground during this period and stopped functioning for over a year. Club captain James McGhee and Sandy McMahon simply took the train west and joined Celtic.

Hibs may have encouraged the founders of Celtic to proceed with their plans but all the signs were there that an Irish club would be founded in Glasgow in any case. Walfrid and his companions wanted to maximise the financial benefits of football and put this money to use helping alleviate poverty amongst their community. As Hibs struggled to reform and regain their place in Scottish football, Celtic went from strength to strength and won their first Scottish cup in 1892 just five years after Hibs had done so. Celtic would win four Scottish titles and three Scottish Cups in the 1890s as Hibs struggled to deal with the de-facto professionalism of the game. John Glass knew it was coming in Scotland and had Celtic ready for it even if the charitable principles of the club suffered somewhat for a while. With Walfrid called to London in 1893 to work with the poor in the east end, Celtic’s business oriented patrons guided the club from charitable status to being a private limited company. This move pained the purists who wanted the club to remain a charitable institution but if Celtic was to build a fitting stadium and compete in the professional league then finance was required. The hard headed businessmen won out over the idealists and Celtic became a business.

Scotland had dragged its feet over the issue of professionalism and in doing so saw a lot of talent heading to England. Preston North End played ten Scots in their championship winning side of 1888-89. Scottish players were regarded as among the best in the game and flooded south to earn a good living in the English league. It took the SFA till 1893 to accept that players could be paid for playing football. This ended the widespread culture of rewarding players ‘under the table’ or by giving them pubs to manage.

When professionalism came it was Celtic who was best placed to thrive and thrive they did. They ended the nineteenth century as one of the wealthiest clubs in the UK. Their team was hugely successful on the field and their stadium among the best in the land. They shared common roots with Hibernian and Dundee Harp but had immensely more potential to become a major footballing force. The fact that 75% of Scotland’s Irish community lived within 15 miles of Celtic Park gave them a huge demographic advantage over other clubs with Irish roots which they used to the full.

Hibs took longer to see that an amateur, all-Catholic team would struggle in the professional era but eventually accepted the inevitability of paying their players and fielding a mixed team. Football was changing and the team Canon Hannan and Michael Whelahan founded among the Catholic Young Men’s Society at St Patrick’s church’s would adapt or vanish like many others of the era. Thankfully Hibs soon settled their ground issue and took up residence at Easter Road in 1893. The club had its successful periods and its barren spells but at least it was in business and took its place among the foremost clubs in Scotland.

Today both Hibernian and Celtic are fully integrated into the fabric of Scottish football. Both clubs have a more diverse support than was the case in the early days of football. Some argue that Hibs ‘dilution’ of their Irishness was in part due to their need to reach out to a wider supporter base than their founding community but Celtic too is proud of the increasingly diverse fan base following the club.

Celtic was never a ‘tribute act’ or ‘cheap imitation’ of Hibs. From earliest times they walked their own path and found a measure of fame as one of the great football institutions of Scotland and indeed world football. Hibs too found their place in the game after the triumphs and tribulations of their early days Both clubs have come a long way since Canon Hannan and Brother Walfrid sought to use football as a vehicle to develop the fitness of young men in their community and to give that community a sense of pride. They also saw football as a vehicle to raise much needed funds to support their humanitarian work.

The Canon and the Brother should be honoured for what they did for a marginalised and often despised community. Their respective clubs have mirrored the rise of their community from marginalisation and poverty to eventually taking their rightful place in Scottish society and that is something to be proud of.

La vecchia signora

 La vecchia signora

Celtic travelled to Turin in the autumn of 1981 to face the might of Juventus in the European cup. The Hoops fought tenaciously and won the first leg 1-0 thanks to Murdo McLeod’s strike at Celtic Park in front of 60,000 Celtic fans. The thousands of Hoops fans heading to Italy had some hope of progressing as that particular Celtic side had a good attacking threat and a determined bunch of players. Juventus in those years though had a stellar squad which contained not only Liam Brady and the excellent Roberto Bettaga, but also five other players who would win the world cup for Italy at the end of that 1981-82 season. In defence, legendary goalkeeper, Dino Zoff was  backed up by the excellent Cabrini,  Scirea and the ruthless Gentile. Claudio Gentile was the quintessential Italian defender, hard as nails, disciplined and skilled in the dark arts of defensive football. Known as ‘Gaddafi’ to his team mates because he was born in Libya, Gentile took no prisoners on the field of play.

Those who know football consider the Juventus defence of the early 1980s to be one of the most formidable back lines in football history. It is to Celtic’s credit that they defeated a team containing almost half the Italian national side in Glasgow. If Gentile was the steel of that defence then Scirea was the silk; a cultured and technically gifted player who could pass the ball out of defence. Tragically, Gaetano Scirea was to be killed in a car crash in Poland at the age of 36. He had gone to watch Gornik Zabrze on behalf of Juventus as they were due to meet in the UEFA Cup. His Polish driver had four canisters of fuel in the trunk which exploded when he collided with a truck. All three passengers in the car died

Football was plagued by the ‘English disease’ of hooliganism in the 1980s and Italian fan culture was among the most volatile and violent in Europe. Regional differences and fierce rivalries often led to violence and disorder at Italian games. An added extra to the poisonous mix was politics with far right and far left groups following certain clubs and often looking for trouble on match days. The hooligan elements attaching themselves to Italy’s bigger clubs were well organised even then. Juventus’ Ultra group would often make visiting supporters trips to Turin a dangerous experience. Things did not bode well for the travelling Celtic supporters who arrived in Turin in big numbers to back their team.

The crumbling old Stadio Comunale was packed with 69,000 fans who made an incredible racket as Celtic took the field wearing their all green away kit. Some Celtic supporters had already been attacked that day by thugs on mopeds who carried chains and flick knives but worse was to come after the game which Juventus deservedly won 2-0. Celtic fans were attacked by organised mobs at the coach park and some received horrendous wounds. One fan was struck by a machete and another was slashed the entire length of his back while 3 more received stab wounds. Buses had their windows smashed as fans lay on the floor inside trying as best they could to protect the younger supporters. It was a horrendous situation and only the arrival of the Italian riot Police ended the trouble. Some Celtic supporters who were at that match left Turin on their windowless buses with an abiding dislike of Juventus and their supporters. It was a long and cold journey over the Alps and back north to Scotland.

Celtic’s next trip to Turin was not without incident either. In 2001 Celtic played their first ever Champions League Group match against Juventus and it was to be another eventful evening. Celtic seemed a little nervous early in the game but were giving as good as they got when a defensive lapse just before half time allowed David Trezeguet to score. Worse was to follow ten minutes after half time when the French striker scored again. It looked a long way back for Martin O’Neill’s side but that group of players had guts and character in spades and took the game to the Italians. Petrov scored after 67 minutes and Celtic pinned Juventus back as they sought the equalizer. It duly arrived with 5 minutes to go when Larsson scored from the penalty spot against legendary keeper Buffon. The team then pressed for a winner when Juventus forayed forward in the dying seconds of the game. A hopeful ball to Amoruso saw covering defender Joos Valgaeren in control of the situation. The Italian went to ground theatrically and to the astonishment of everyone in the stadium the German referee gave a penalty. Celtic had a good result snatched out of their hands by an outrageous decision. It was a bitter pill to swallow and was to cost Celtic a chance of qualification in the group.

Celtic supporters had some measure of revenge when the Hoops put in a stirring performance to beat Juventus 4-3 at Celtic Park in one of those magical Celtic Park nights. It was a display of attacking prowess, power and pace and the fans loved it. Sadly results elsewhere saw Celtic tumble out of the tournament as that stolen point in Turin came back to haunt them. Juventus, known as ‘la vecchia Signora’ (the old lady) a converse pun on their name which means ‘youth’ in Italian, were respected as a good team by Celtic supporters but their fans were disliked after the events of 1981. Their cynical approach to the game, epitomised by Amoruso’s dive in Turin, didn’t help relations between the clubs or supporters.

Celtic next tangled with the Italian side in 2013 in the round of 16 Champions League. The tie at Celtic Park demonstrated how cruel football could be. Celtic attacked from the outset but their two overlapping full backs were leaving gaps which the clinical Italians exploited. The game was decided by the quality of finishing and by the referee’s repeated habit of ignoring the pulling, holding and blatant grappling of Italian defenders on the Celtic attackers. Once it was clear they would not be punished for holding Celtic players in the box they did it all night. Celtic were mugged on the counter-attack and lost 3-0. Many fans were furious at the antics of the Italian defenders but more so with the Spanish referee who let then foul at will. It is no exaggeration to say that Celtic could have had 3 or 4 penalties that night such was pushing and pulling of their forwards. Commentating on the game Michael Owen said on the night…

‘Gutted, Celtic deserved so much more. They have been outstanding; it’s particularly annoying to have witnessed so many dirty tricks by the Italians.’

Celtic headed for Turin and the newly built, all seated Juventus stadium with little hope of progressing. Something remarkable occurred that evening in the pouring rain but it wasn’t on the field of play where Celtic fought gamely before going down 2-0. With the tie well beyond the team, the Celtic supporters sand their hearts out. They demonstrated to the more cynical supporters of Juventus that you backed your team through thick and thin. As the Italian fans looked on at the Scots in their section of the stadium bounces and sang their hearts out. Something very rare in football then occurred; the home supporters began to applaud the Celtic supporters.

The Italian media picked up on the great support shown by Celtic supporters for their team and contrasted it to the booing and jeers Italian sides received when they were losing a game. Juventus fans commented on social media with one saying…

‘We have a lot to learn, all of us; deep respect to the Celtic supporters. I was in the stadium and I’ve never seen anything like that. It’s a deep love for the team and for the sport of football. What an example!’

Another supporter of Juventus, who hailed originally from Naples, (many Neapolitans moved north to work in the Fiat car plant) said of the game…

‘If the match had taken place in Naples the fans would have most likely have thrown paper bombs or smoke bombs instead of applauding them. They should be an example for us who complain at the team when it doesn’t express its full potential or loses a game. This is called tifo!’

Italian newspaper, Calcio Mercato wrote of the Celtic supporters in Turin on that rainy night in 2013…

‘The Celtic fans gave an authentic lesson in sporting civility, of fair play and passion. Despite losing the game and being eliminated from Europe the Celtic fans never stopped singing and encouraging their team.’

Juventus manager Antonio Conte was also able to offer praise for Celtic  although doing it from the position of winning manager is perhaps easier. He said…

‘Celtic have been worthy rivals to the black and white stripes of Juventus. Those green and white hoops are a strip of a team worthy of applause from the football world.’

Celtic’s three European ties with Juventus over the years mark out not just developments in football. Players change, cultures change, stadiums change too but the idea of going to football and backing your team fully is an unchanging facet of many Celtic supporters lives. Italian football combines the grace and artistry of players like Pirlo with the ruthless cynicism of some of their defenders. They may have a more powerful league than Scotland, more success in Europe historically and more resources to build their teams but their fans could learn much from watching the passion and commitment of Scottish supporters, especially those who follow Celtic.

Six degrees of separation

Six degrees of separation

Six degrees of separation is the concept that all human beings are six or fewer social connections from each other. It remains one of those theories that is easier to say than it is to prove but there is no doubt that there are connections and ties which link people even when they don’t know about it. I discovered one recently when chatting to a friend.

When I was a skinny teenager and just taking my first steps into adulthood I got into two things which still bring me a lot of happiness; one was supporting Celtic Football Club, a lifelong passion which shows no sign of abating. The other was music and I’m still more likely to be listening to music than watching TV. In my youth music was the medium which spoke to me most about the lives ordinary, working class people lived. Rock against Racism was a movement which arranged concerts large and small in order to bring people together and offer a cultural and political alternative to the rising tide of far right hate groups at the time. This was an era when Eric Clapton foolishly said on stage to a rather astonished audience in Birmingham…

“Do we have any foreigners in the audience tonight? If so please put your hands up. So where are you/ well wherever you are I think you should all just leave. not just the hall, leave our country! Listen to me man, I think we should send them all back. Stop Britain from becoming a black colony. Get the foreigners out, get the coons out, get out. Keep Britain white. The black wogs and the coons and Arabs and the fucking Jamaicans don't belong here, we don't want them here. this is England, this is a white country. We don't want any black wogs and coons living here. We need to make that clear to them, they are not welcome. England is for the white people man. This is Great Britain, a white country. What is happening to us for fuck's sake!  Throw the wogs out! Keep Britain white!'

Musicians of all hues were dismayed at his words. Rock against racism later organised events supported by bands such as the Clash, the Specials, Elvis Costello, the Buzzcocks and Stiff Little fingers. Young people of all ethnicities enjoyed the music together and demonstrated that with the right attitude people can get along. Clapton later apologised for his words but the attitude he expressed in them lingers on in some sections of our society.

One band I enjoyed listening too back then was the Undertones. They hailed from Derry and played an exciting form of rock music with lyrics we could all relate to. In the context of the troubles in the north of Ireland, bands like the Undertones and the Miami Show Band offered young people from all communities a chance to congregate free from the shadow of the chaos and violence around them and just enjoy being young. The Undertones went on to huge chart success across the UK whereas the Miami Show Band was tragically shattered by an act of despicable violence perpetrated by evil men. I saw the Undertones in the old Apollo Theatre in Glasgow when I was 18 and they had the audience literally bouncing along to their songs, from ‘My Perfect Cousin’ to ‘Jimmy Jimmy’ and of course their anthem ‘Teenage Kicks.’ You left concerts like that soaked in sweat but absolutely buzzing.

I read recently some of the fine obituaries written John Hume, a man who lived through poverty, oppression, virtual civil war and yet still clung tenaciously to his belief that non-violence was the only way to mend a broken society. Like the Undertones, John hailed from Derry and saw the brutality of the RUC during the ‘battle of the Bogside.’  A report into that struggle stated that the Police were guilty of ‘assault and battery, malicious damage and use of provocative sectarian and political slogans.’ There seemed to be no hope of reform or compromise with a state which condoned a minister in the government who said things such as….

'There were a great number of Protestants and Orangemen who employed Roman Catholics. He felt he could speak freely on this subject as he had not a Roman Catholic about his own place (Cheers). He appreciated the great difficulty experienced by some of them in procuring suitable Protestant labour, but he would point out that the Roman Catholics were endeavouring to get in everywhere and were out with all their force and might to destroy the power and constitution of Ulster. ... He would appeal to loyalists, therefore, wherever possible to employ good Protestant lads and lassies.'

                                    Sir Basil Brooke, later Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

"I suppose I am about as high up in the Orange Institution as anybody else. I am very proud indeed to be Grand Master of the loyal County of Down. I have filled that office many years, and I prize that far more than I do being Prime Minister. I have always said I am an Orangeman first and a politician and Member of this Parliament second.
                                     

                                           Sir James Craig, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland

That is the society John Hume was born into. In his home city the nationalist population outnumbered unionists almost 2-1 yet the city corporation was gerrymandered so that the unionists always had a majority of councillors. Discrimination in jobs, housing and of course in democracy itself led eventually to the civil rights movement being formed to demand change. Hume was of course involved in the civil rights movement and always argued that it should be non-violent. The wilder elements of loyalism, including some in the police, reacted violently to the civil rights marches and the simmering tensions rose. John Hume also saw the murderous actions of the British Army when they shot dead 14 and wounded many others on Bloody Sunday. When a senior British Officer apologised years later saying he accepted that all the dead were unarmed and innocent, Hume responded with the withering words, ‘then why were they shot?’

The descent into the abyss of violence which engulfed Northern Ireland seemed to sweep more moderate voices aside but Hume never stopped trying to facilitate talks between the warring factions and tried to be the voice of reason on some of the darkest days of the troubles. He and others like him prevailed in the end but only after a sickening toll of death and destruction. His passing is rightly marked with a host of obituaries praising a life well lived. As he said of himself, ‘I never thought in terms of being a leader, I thought very simply in terms of helping people.’

But what of the six degrees of separation I mentioned in the first sentences of this article? Well, John Hume grew up at a time when banks wouldn’t consider lending money to anyone in the impoverished community he grew up in so he and a few friends founded the Derry Credit Union to loan money to those who needed it to improve their life chances. They had under £9 between them at the start but the Derry credit union, the first in the six counties, grew till it had 30,000 members. He once said that founding the credit union gave him more pleasure than the Nobel Peace prize he received with David Trimble.

Among those who borrowed money from the Derry Credit Union was Billy Docherty a hopeful young drummer with a band initially called the Hot Rods. He borrowed £200 to buy a decent drum kit and keep the band going. Lead singer Feargal Sharkey suggested they change the band’s name to the Little Feat but eventually Billy Doherty suggested they settle on the name the Undertones. Had the Derry Credit Union not existed then Billy Doherty might not have got his drum kit and the Undertones might have fizzled out like so many other young hopefuls in the music industry. Had that happened I wouldn’t have had such a great night at the old Apollo all those years ago.It goes to show the inter-connectedness of human beings and all we seek to do.

John Hume’s lifetime saw some dramatic changes in his home city and his country. He knew one important truth though and that is that people need to learn to live together and accept differences in culture and outlook. He said…

‘Difference is the essence of humanity. Difference is an accident of birth and it should therefore never be a source of hatred or conflict. The answer to difference is to respect it. Therein lies the most fundamental principle of peace; respect for diversity.’

That respect between the different cultures in Ireland is the key to a peaceful future. A generation has grown up free from the fear and turmoil of the past. There can be no return to the bad old days. John Hume’s greatest legacy is that he and others like him never gave up hope that peace was possible. He said as the Good Friday Agreement was formalised….

‘Let’s work together and build together, and as we do that the real solution will began. The real healing process will begin and we will erode the distrust of the past.’

Real unity has little to do with which flag is up the flag pole; rather it is the people from all communities working together for the common good.

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They know not what they do

They know not what they do

This weekend I got around to watching Jimmy McGovern’s excellent drama ‘Anthony’ which was about the tragic murder of teenager Anthony Walker in Liverpool in 2005. The drama imagines the life Anthony could have had had it not been so cruelly cut short by a couple of racist thugs. As always, Jimmy McGovern writes with the eye of a man who knows life and the pain and joy it can bring. Anthony Walker’s mother, Gee, showed incredible fortitude when she said after the trial of her son’s murderers…

‘At the point of death Jesus said, forgive them for they know not what they do. I have to forgive them. My family and I stand by what we believe-forgiveness.’

Watching the drama made me think of all of the lost potential when a young life is cut short. It also demonstrated the incredible strength family members need to get through such dreadful times. The courage and dignity shown by Gee Walker reminded me of the dreadful events of 1995 when teenage Celtic fan Mark Scott was murdered for no other reason than the team he supported. Like Gee Walker, Mark’s father demonstrated a powerful sense of dignity when he said at his son’s funeral….

‘There are two victims in all of this; my son and another young man who has been raised among such hatred that he could do such a thing.’

Therein lies the genesis of so many horrendous crimes; some folk bring children into the world and teach them to hate. No child is born hating others; it learns from the significant others in its life and from observation of their actions, words and values. It isn’t hard to create the concept of the ‘other’ being different from us, being somehow less than us and that can lead to problems in our lives and in our society. The killer of Mark Scott came from a family steeped in bigotry and extreme politics. His father and uncle were involved with the UVF during the troubles and as well as supplying weapons and explosives to their masters in Belfast, actually blew up bars in Glasgow they perceived as being republican. What chance did a child born into that environment have?

When I was a teenager I used to watch some of my schoolmates head off to an underpass at the motorway which formed the border between two districts of Glasgow. There they would meet the young men from the scheme next door and engage in fairly savage gang warfare. Summer nights were the favourite time for this pastime and a good few young men were injured and scarred from these battles. In the end a young man I knew was killed and the authorities finally decided to act. The underpass was sealed off and tall metal fencing made traversing between the two districts a long and arduous task. I recall playing football with my pals and wondering why some preferred throwing bricks to kicking a ball. It all seemed so pointless and futile. Why was it that for some folk who lived half a mile away had to be seen as the enemy?

I’ve been attending football matches in Scotland for more years than I care to remember and for many it is an engrossing, entertaining and hugely tribal pursuit. On occasion a minority stray over the line from rivalry into nastiness and even hatred. For many it is empty posturing and for all its bad taste is seldom to be taken literally. Of those thousands who chanted about being ‘up to their knees in Fenian blood,’ in the past, how many actually meant it?  The danger is of course that by doing such things it gives a safe space, even tacit approval, to that unhinged minority who are prepared to be violent.

Social media can amplify extreme opinions and groups tend to interact with like-minded individuals and thus form an unhealthy bubble where their opinions aren’t challenged but are in fact supported. Thus the echo chamber of unchallenged bigotry can exist. Now and then there are hardy souls who speak up against the prevailing culture and it’s good to see them have the courage of their convictions. Others say nothing, feeling it isn’t worth the hassle trying to reason with unreasonable people.

Research has shown that some people form a stronger bond when they share a common dislike or hatred of others. It may be rooted in their own insecurities and allow them to funnel their negative feelings into blaming someone else rather than dealing with their own role in their problems. If they find like-minded people who share their view then a mutually supportive group can form in which prejudice is normalised and reinforced. I spoke to a man recently who expressed a very low opinion of some of the new comers to Scotland in recent years. He trotted out fairly predictable opinions that they were scroungers, lazy, dirty, etc. I told him that some people said the same about my grandparents when they got off the boat from Ireland a hundred years ago. I knew his background was similar to mine and hoped he’d get the point.

People are all individual human being with their own character, biography, strengths and weaknesses. To ascribe common traits to every member of a group is unhealthy and on occasion dangerous. The stereotyping and scapegoating of people has led to some of humanity’s worst crimes. The ‘other’ is society; be it the taig, the hun, the asylum seeker, the gay, the black, the Jew, the Roma or the foreigner are all people like us and we are people like them. When we forget that we allow space for hate to slip unbidden into our minds.

Maya Angelou, the African-American writer, once said, ‘hate has created a lot of problems in the world but it has yet to solve one.’

She had that right.