Wolfe Tones singer calls on FAI to apologise to women’s football team following Celtic Symphony controversy

Brian Warfield claimed that the team was "forced and bullied into apologising".

It's been one week since the Irish women's football team's historic qualification for next year's World Cup, and yet, one aspect of that fateful night in Glasgow remains a major point of discussion. The FAI and Ireland boss Vera Pauw issued an apology after video footage was widely circulated of players chanting a song that contained pro-IRA lyrics in the aftermath of their win over Scotland. The song in question, Celtic Symphony by the Wolfe Tones, re-entered the charts following the controversy, with the song reaching number one on the Irish iTunes charts, and crowds singing the chant while in Dublin Airport. Now, the original writer and singer of the tune, Brian Warfield, has weighed in on the furore and is calling on the FAI to apologise to the Irish women's team for how it dealt with the situation. "I call on the FAI to apologise to these young girls for putting them into a situation that was totally cruel," Warfield said in a video on TikTok.

@wolfe_tones_official♬ original sound - Wolfe tones official TikTok

"Putting them into the lion's den when they were sent out there to answer the questions of a professional commentator on Sky News, and they were made and bullied into apologising. "They sang a song, and it's a football song. It's a song I wrote about Celtic." Warfield was commissioned to write the song to celebrate the centenary of the Glaswegian football team's foundation in 1988. According to Warfield, he took the lyrics from graffiti he saw on the streets of Glasgow, including "Up the Celts, we're magic", and the point of controversy, "Ooh Ah Up The Ra". "Remember, there was mass discrimination against the Catholics, gerrymandering of the states, we had no opportunity of getting any sort of power in the six counties," Warfield added. "Now, they're giving hell to these young girls for singing a song that tells that story. So I think that's all wrong, and I think everybody should go out there and sing the song wherever they can. "So I'll just say one more thing; Celtic Symphony, Ooh Ah Up The Ra! That means an Egyptian God." Related links.

• FAI apologise for controversial song in Ireland team's dressing room after World Cup qualification.
• Kevin Kilbane and James McClean among leading figures to speak out over rebel song controversy.
• Sky Sports presenter asks Ireland star if team 'need to be educated' after controversial song.