How long must we sing this song?

 

How long must we sing this song?

This weekend’s football match at Ibrox was full blooded affair in which two evenly matched teams were separated by the width of a cigarette paper. As is always the case in such matches, you take your chances when they come along or you pay the price. No doubt Odsonne Edouard will receive some criticism for missing a complete sitter but Kyoto had a couple of great opportunities and choose to shoot when he should have passed and then pass when he should have had a shot. In the heat of the moment, it’s hard to get it right every time. They are after all, only human.

Ibrox was akin to an away game in Europe for Celtic with no away fans to cheer them but they performed reasonably well and played with no fear. In the light of that fact and the fact that Rangers are over three years into the Gerrard rebuild while Postecoglou is ten weeks into his resuscitation of Celtic, there were genuine signs that Celtic can match the Ibrox side over 90 minutes and that there is much to look forward to in the season ahead. Postecoglou was honest enough to admit he should have played Kyogo through the middle as it was clear his pace and movement was not as effective out wide. In those dying minutes, he cut through the Rangers defence on two or three occasions and one was left wondering why he wasn’t played in that position from the start. We live and learn and I’m sure Anje does too.

There were positives for Celtic today; Jovanović looks a player, Kyogo will bag a lot of goals this season and the defence generally held it together. Celtic supporters were obviously annoyed at the error which cost the team the game’s only goal but saw a side prepared to attack their opponents in probably the most hostile atmosphere they’ll face this season. There was much to be positive about despite the loss of the three points. I’m sure more reinforcements will arrive before the window closes as Celtic gear up for a real challenge this year.

Footage emerged after the game of Rangers ‘ultras’ matching through Glasgow city centre singing the ‘Famine Song.’ This lamentable and frankly, moronic song has already been declared racist in the Scottish courts. Yet Police officers escorted the people singing it with barely a second look at them. It is worth considering the lyric of this odious song as it encapsulates the anti-Irish, anti-Catholic and anti-Celtic spirit which animates it. As a rational human being, you may find it difficult to comprehend that an adult wrote this drivel….

 

‘I often wonder where they would have been
If we hadn't have taken them in
Fed them and washed them
Thousands in Glasgow alone
From Ireland they came
Brought us nothing but trouble and shame
Well the famine is over
Why don't they go home?

Now Athenry Mike was a thief
And Large John he was fully briefed
And that wee traitor from Castlemilk
Turned his back on his own
They've all their Papists in Rome
They have U2 and Bono
Well the famine is over
Why don't they go home?

Now they raped and fondled their kids
That's what those perverts from the dark side did
And they swept it under the carpet
And Large John he hid
Their evils seeds have been sown
Cause they're not of our own
Well the famine is over
Why don't you go home?

Now Timmy don't take it from me
Cause if you know your history
You've persecuted thousands of people
In Ireland alone
You turned on the lights
Fuelled U-boats by night
That's how you repay us
It's time to go home.’

 

Where does one even begin with this trash? It’s the sort of twisted and hateful nonsense you’d expect from red-neck racists in 1940s Alabama. Filled with all the lies, ignorance and bigotry which only the truly morally vacuous and uneducated could swallow, it is not, as some say, banter or irony; It is poisonous racism of the worst kind and it’s time the police, civic and footballing authorities did something about it.

Glasgow is set for 34 Orange Parades in one day on 18^th September and the taxpayers of the city, of all faiths and none, will pay for the policing costs as well as facing disruption on the roads and streets. Businesses will suffer as folk stay home to avoid the hassle of bumping into these time travellers from the 17^th century and their camp followers.

A friend of mine who is neither a Catholic nor a Celtic fan told me his solution: ‘Why not insist such processions take place in places where there will be no disruption to the daily life of ordinary folk? Rural Ayrshire, for instance? Why not tell the organisers that they can expect to pay the policing costs for all of their parades? That should cut the numbers down as 34 in a day in one city is just ridiculous.’ He does have a point although all controversial or extremist groups shelter behind the liberal, democratic idea that allows for free expression and the right to demonstrate. The old adage; I hate what you say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it,’ comes to mind.

Scotland seems to be waking up from its dreamlike state that it isn’t afflicted by the same racist fringe which exists in all countries to a greater or lesser extent. The blindness exhibited here regarding anti-Irish Catholic racism is receding but what will be done about it beyond the usual hand wringing and a false equivalence narrative which has allowed this poison to be swept under the carpet for too long?

I once had a conversation with a Rangers fan in a bar in the days before they started signing Catholic players and he told me, ‘I don’t think they should sign Catholics. I mean look at Celtic, they sign anybody and they’re still the same? It won’t change anything.’ I asked what he meant by ‘still the same,’ and he replied, ‘still Tims.’ I had to stop and try and process the logic behind what he was saying. I think he meant that despite having a mixed team and an increasingly mixed support, the rivalry wouldn’t change in his eyes because they would still be perceived as different, as the enemy. Yet surely there is a moral element to not discriminating against a group based on religion, race or any other false division the less cerebral bring into creation in their febrile brains?

Already we can see the ‘squirrels’ being pointed at by those who have yet to admit that Scotland has a problem with anti-Irish racism; It’s Catholic schools, (most of which are mixed) It’s a west of Scotland thing, it’s the Old Firm, both as bad as each other, etc. The debate usually stalls around these tropes and nothing is done.

This is a societal problem and as such is one we much tackle as a society. That means the law, education and politicians must all work together to eradicate, where possible, the racism in our midst. People are free to hold whatever opinions they choose to but they are not free to chant racist filth on our streets. Enough is enough.

We seemed to have have had this debate over and over in recent years, yet little is done. Will this time be any different?

As U2 once wrote…. How long, how long must we sing this song?