"Terrorist group?"

The Wolfe Tones have given a sharp response after being accused of glorifying a 'terrorist group' during a debate on The BelTel podcast.  Irish Independent columnist Sarah Carey was at the Electric Picnic festival last week, and was shocked when she saw so many young people flock to The Wolfe Tones and chant the famous refrain 'Oh ah up the RA' during the song Celtic Symphony.

Wolfe Tones respond

The song itself was written when band founder Brian Warfield saw the words written on graffiti on a wall, in support of Glasgow Celtic. They have often explained that that is what the song is referring to, and that it is not a pro-IRA chant, but many see it as glorifying the murders and tragedies of The Troubles in Northern Ireland. In her weekly column, Carey confronted those who were joining in on the chant, and asked them why they were singing it.

"I asked the young people singing, and they all say the same thing. No, they’re not supporting the IRA. It’s just a laugh. What’s the big deal?

https://twitter.com/wolfetones/status/1704642852909719880

"The big deal is there’s no shame. They couldn’t sing about any other violent group, from the Ku Klux Klan to Al-Qa’ida, because their acts are rightly seen as grotesque and their cause entirely illegitimate and immoral.

"But there’s no shame in the IRA. Why?

"Because Sinn Féin has won. The propaganda campaign has won, aided and abetted by a media asleep at the wheel for 30 years, totally failing to challenge the lie that the IRA campaign was legitimate, if unfortunate. "Sinn Féin representatives are well drilled in their responses. The media were never up to them and still aren’t." Carey echoed these feelings on The BelTel podcast with Ciaran Dunbar, who also interviewed Warfield himself to explain his reasoning behind these songs. When they posted a clip of Carey's interview on 'X' formally known as Twitter, they included a quote from her saying: "What other terrorist group could you do this for anywhere in the world?" The Wolfe Tones were rapid in their response, reposting it with the caption "Terrorist group? Who? What??" Related links: 

• Patrick Kielty brought The Wolfe Tones into his opening Late Late Show joke
• Wolfe Tones to play second 60th anniversary Dublin concert after first gig sells out in 'record time'
• Leo Varadkar makes united Ireland claim when asked about the Wolfe Tones