The Consulate General of Ireland in Scotland has started a probe into the racist behaviour of Rangers fans at last weeks Glasgow derby match at Celtic Park. The offensive fans, known as 'huns' by followers of most other Scottish teams, have recently had to ditch their sectarian songbook following sanctions from UEFA. They have now replaced those songs of religious intolerance with an offensive anti-Irish piece mocking the victims of The Great Hunger which killed over one million people and caused another million to leave the land of their birth. The song is titled "The Famine is over, Why don't you go home" and a spokesman for the Irish Government confirmed that they had raised the matter with the Scottish Government.
Disgusted Celtic fans have waited in vain for some action to be taken against the racists but it seems that other than the Celtic fans themselves and one London-based Scottish journalist, no-one was interested in even acknowledging this shocking behaviour never mind condemning it. But now that the Irish government has become involved on an official level this will have to change.
Celtic fan Tommy Reilly, from Glasgow-Irish stock himself and thus a direct target of the hate-filled song, said "I wrote to the Irish Embassy in London to voice my concerns after the recent game against Rangers. I had gone with my two children, aged 12 and 13, and I was very disturbed by songs emanating from the Rangers end mocking the Irish famine. Given UEFA and the SFA policy in regard to racist chanting, and I understand that these chants were clearly audible during the TV coverage of the match, I was amazed that no action has been taken by the Police or Football authorities and in fact there had been no mention of it in the Scottish media at all"
"I am extremely concerned that by failing to act the authorities are allowing anti Irish sentiment to grow in Scotland" said Tommy "I wrote to the Irish Embassy in the hope that at some level the Irish Government could draw attention to this matter as I know a number of friends and family have the same concerns as myself"
Tommy is a Scot and he explained "Although I was born in Scotland I am of Irish descent - my grandfather emigrated to Scotland from Lurgan in 1916 and the rest of my family on both sides settled in Scotland around the time of the famine. Although I do consider myself Scots I am very proud of my Irish heritage and I have made a point of instilling this in my children. But when my 12 year old son was sent a you tube video with two adults performing a mime of 'the famine song' from a 12 year old Rangers supporting friend of his I was chilled. I felt something had to be done"
The Consulate General of Ireland in Scotland sent the following reply to Tommy and indicated that they had been contacted by a number of people about the incident and that they would be taking the matter further:
"Dear Mr Reilly,
My colleague at the Embassy of Ireland, London, forwarded your correspondence to us at the Consulate General of Ireland in Scotland. The Consulate has been contacted by a number of people following the match, and we have raised the matter with the Scottish Government.
When you have time, I would be interested in discussing the matter with you. My contact details are below. We would also recommend that you contact both Celtic and Rangers Football clubs, the Scottish Government including Minister for Community Safety Fergus Ewing, your local MSP and MP, and Strathclyde Police on these matters.
We would be interested to hear from you concerning any responses you receive.
Kind Regards,"
As we await further developments it will be interesting to see the reaction of the mainstream media in Scotland to this escalation of events. Just how will they explain that a matter they thought unworthy of reporting, or should I say a matter they actively suppressed, has suddenly become a matter of great concern to the Governments of two countries?
(N.B. Please note that the name 'Tommy Reilly' is a pseudonym for obvious reasons)