Was Kingsmill the tip of the Iceberg for the Period?

These are interesting comments from Willie Frazer that must be a catalyst for investigation by the authorities?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML7jXZ1ptSE&noredirect=1

"Those IRA terrorists who massacred the men at Kingsmill killed many more innocents. This wasn’t freedom fighting, it was the blatant sectarian killing of Protestants. We estimate that they killed over 100 Protestants in South Armagh, they shot into Orange Halls, Gospel halls and even tortured people. It really is time that they answered for their crimes."

This is the group that Republican revisionists tell the world were "political".

Kingsmill Sectarian Slaughter

While many Republicans now deny the Sectarian nature of the IRA, evidence continues to stack up that the Provos were Sectarian.

The enquiry in to the Kingsmill slaughter this year concluded that the premeditated slaughter of ten Protestants was "purely sectarian", with one catholic travelling with the Protestant group freed from the carnage.

This is the terrorist group that Celtic fans idolise each week through songs such as "Ooh Ah Up The 'Ra" and "Roll of Honour".

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0622/1224299384987.html

Stunning Documentation of Sectarianism by Celtic Fans

This site was emailed to me yesterday.

On it are times and dates detailing Sectarianism by Celtic supporters, with links down the left to lyrics of said songs, and hyperlinks to evidence of the specific instances.

One can only hope that this site will have an impact in fighting this cancer.

http://doublestandards.bplaced.net/index.html

Scottish Court Sets Legal Precedent

A Scottish Court set a legal precedent on Sectarianism today when Celtic Supporter Michael Bailey was convicted of sectarian abuse.

While the BBC Report oddly lacks detail of the abuse the stv report indicates the language concerned included the terms "Orange b*s*ards", "Orange c*nts", and Sectarian IRA Slogan "TIOCFAIDH AR LA" as well as some disgusting racist abuse.

It is now clear that a legal precedent has been set, and that calling anyone an orange bast*** or c*nt is now, by legal definition, sectarian.

Reports:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-14222785

stv reports

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/west-central/263115-celtic-supporter-admits-making-racist-and-sectarian-rants-on-facebook/

Celtic fan admits making racist and sectarian rants on Facebook

Michael Bailey made comments about Rangers fans, Walter Smith and El Hadji Diouf on the social networking site.

20 July 2011 14:50 GMT

Conviction: Michael Bailey will be sentenced next month Pic: © Spindrift

A Celtic supporter has admitted posting racist and sectarian comments on a Facebook page opposed to the club’s manager Neil Lennon.

Michael Bailey, 20, left a number of messages on the social networking site about Rangers fans, the club’s then manager Walter Smith and El Hadji Diouf, the African forward who was on loan to the Ibrox side at the end of last season.

On a page entitled ‘Neil Lennon should be banned’ and on his personal Facebook page, Bailey posted comments which included ‘Glasgow rangers yous are s*** you bunch of orange b*******’ and ‘send diouf back to the jungle’. Bailey also described Mr Smith as a "dirty pie eating Orange b******".

Bailey, from Bridgeton in Glasgow, appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Wednesday and admitted a charge of posting comments of a "racist and sectarian nature" on the internet between March 7 and 8 this year.

The court heard how a police taskforce began a review of social network sites and their contents after an increase of sectarian football-related hostility and offending following a fiery Old Firm match on March 3.

Procurator fiscal depute Julie Clark told the court police officers investigated further and identified that Bailey had made a comment on the 'Neil Lennon should be banned' Facebook page and his own.

Ms Clark said another message posted on Bailey’s page was "Oh the rangers are s**** ya bunch of p*** lovers send diouf back to the jungle and you can go back with him...ya smelly orange c***...soldiers are we...TIOCFAIDH AR LA."

Bailey was detained by police on April 30 and interviewed. The court was told he accepted full responsibility for posting the comments.

The 20-year-old has been released on bail with the conditions that he must not enter any SPL ground, or Hampden Stadium. He must also sign on at his local police station during the first half of every Celtic match.

Sheriff Johanna Johnstone QC deferred sentencing until next month for reports. Defence lawyer Stephen Bentley will give his plea in mitigation then.

FARE – Fare Are Rangers Enemies – A Summary

FARE – Fare Are Rangers Enemies – A Summary

As more and more evidence emerges of the sinister nature of the workings of the group who successfully reported Rangers for alleged sectarian chanting twice, I feel it my duty to summarise in one place and in one article, exactly why FARE are not fit for purpose, and why FARE as an organisation should be suspended from all activity involving Rangers and Celtic Football clubs with immediate effect.

What follows is a summary of the findings against FARE by investigative Journalist David Leggat, and some communications between users of rangersmedia.com, thebluenose.co.uk, vanguardbears.co.uk and the editor and users of followfollow.com and FARE.

Firstly, with regards to the links of FARE Chief Piara Power to Celtic Football Club.
On the 15th April 2011 a poster the bluenose.co.uk, a website or the Rangers Supporters Assembly posted some very interesting information.

http://www.thebluenose.co.uk/index.php?option=com_kunena&Itemid=54&func=view&catid=5&id=116041


http://www.milestonegroup.co.uk/licence-agreement-issue-of-equity--total-voting-rights-08-april-2011.html


“Licence Agreement, Issue of Equity & Total Voting Rights
Milestone Group Plc

(“Milestone” or the “Company”)

Licence agreement with BGP Global Services Limited and launch of OnSide

AIM quoted Milestone Group PLC (AIM: MSG), the digital solutions provider, announces that it has signed an agreement with BGP Global Services Limited (“BGP”) for the exclusive licence of its Facilitated Electronic Data System (“FEDS”) within UK community sports programmes (the “Licence”).

BGP will issue a perpetual licence of FEDS, an innovative and bespoke web application that can be currently run on portable networked computer systems, to OnSide Limited (“OnSide”), a newly incorporated Company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Milestone, for use in the UK community sporting sector, initially to be launched in football, but to be extended to cover other community sports.

……..

Paul Elliott MBE, the former Chelsea and Celtic player, Piara Powar, the Executive Director of FARE (Football Against Racism in Europe), and Bob Quick, the former Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner, will be the ambassadors for OnSide.

-----
Deborah White, CEO of Milestone, commented:

“The creation of OnSide through the relationship between Milestone and BGP will bring together state of the art software and our strong skill set in mobile devices to deliver a revolutionary platform for sporting coaches throughout all sports and communities. OnSide will dramatically reduce the costs associated with sports coaching and create a safer environment for sports to take place. I am grateful to Paul Elliott, Piara Powar and Bob Quick for the passion and dedication they have given to this new venture and look forward to working with BGP going forward.”

So far as the Company is aware and subject to any new notifications received, the following persons will have a notifiable interest in the issued share capital of Milestone following this issue of Ordinary Shares:

Current percentage holding Resultant percentage holding

Deborah Jane White 34,883,774 (15.21%) 34,883,774 (14.63%)

HBS 049 Limited 30,000,000 (13.08%) 30,000,000 (12.58%)

Cormac Crawford 18,954,772 (8.26%) 18,954,772 (7.95%)

Brett J. Desmond (all held by
Aurum Nominees Ltd) 15,729,204 (6.86%) 15,729,204 (6.60%)

Martin King 13,667,049 (5.96%) 13,667,049 (5.73%)

BGP Global Services - 9,090,909 (3.81%)

Lynchwood Nominees Ltd 9,083,489 (3.96%) 9,083,489 (3.81%)

For further information, please contact:

Milestone Group Plc
Deborah White, Chief Executive Tel: 020 7929 7826

Strand Hanson Limited, NOMAD
Richard Tulloch / David Altberg Tel: 020 7409 3494

Hybridan LLP, Broker
Claire Louise Noyce Tel: 020 7947 4350

College Hill, PR
Jamie Ramsay Tel: 020 7457 2020

David Leggat reported this on the 23rd June 2011 when the report started reaching a wider audience.

http://leggoland2.blogspot.com/2011/06/fares-piara-powar-and-celtic-exclusive.html

What the user on the bluenose didn’t mention, and what Leggat didn’t mention is that the firm named against Brett J Desmond in the Milestone announcement “Aurum Nominees Ltd” isn’t the only link to Brett Desmond’s shares in Milestone.
These shares are owned by IIU Nominees Limited

http://www.milestonegroup.co.uk/issue-of-equity-and-total-voting-rights-25-nov-2010.html

“MILESTONE GROUP PLC
(“Milestone” or the “Company”)

Issue of Equity
AIM quoted Milestone Group PLC (AIM:MSG), the digital solutions and technology agency, announces that it has agreed to issue 24,408,061 ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each in the capital of the Company (“Ordinary Shares”), at a price of 1.13 pence per Ordinary Share, raising £275,811.07. Of the Ordinary Shares being issued, 15,929,204 Ordinary Shares are being issued to IIU Nominees Limited on behalf of Brett J. Desmond, representing 9.41 per cent. of the enlarged issued share capital and 5,309,735 Ordinary Shares are being issued to Bryan Lynam, representing 3.14 per cent. of the enlarged issued share capital.”

This is where it get’s really interesting.

The board of IIU Nominees Limited is as follows

IIU NOMINEES LIMITED
R/O Address : Ifsc House Registered No : IE241141
Custom House Quay Legal Form : Private Limited
Dublin 1
Co. Dublin

Current directors
1. Mr B. O'Sullivan Brian 11/08/1963 Director

2. Mr D. Desmond Dermot 14/08/1950 Director

3. Mr J. Bateson John 8/07/1963 Director

4. Mr M. Walsh Michael 2/10/1951 Director

5. Mr N. O'Dwyer Noel 14/01/1971 Company Secretary

So, the link between FARE’s Piara Power and Celtic Football Club is even stronger than first imagined.

Which brings me nicely on to the latest revelations on FARE.

2 days ago, 4 Rangers fans who had reported Celtic for Sectarian Singing in an SPL Match via the FARE reporting form were surprised to find letters to their home from Celtic Chief Executive Peter Lawwell.

One fan posted a scan of said letter to Rangers Media, who subsequently put on the front page of their site. The scan also appeared on the Vanguard Bears and Follow Follow forums.

The recipient of said letter was rather alarmed that their personal details including their home address, home phone number and mobile phone numbers had been passed on to a third party or parties without their consent.

What happened then was startling. the Editor of Follow Follow, Mark Dingwall sent a brief and to the point email to FARE.

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Dingwall [mailto:byerley_turk@cqm.co.uk]
Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2011 2:07 PM
To: info@farenet.org
Subject:

Hello,

Called the Kick It Out office and they gave me this email address to
write to.

I edit a Rangers fans messageboard. www.followfollow.com

Today I had two users say that they had written to FARE to lodge
complaints about the behaviour at the end of season Hearts v Celtic
match. They both said that today they had received letters
concerning their FARE complaints from the Chief Executive of Celtic
Football Club. One of them posted a graphic file of the letter.

Would it be possible for you to confirm that the this is indeed how
the complaints were handled as some fans are skeptical about it.

Yours faithfully,

MARK DINGWALL

I think even he was surprised at the quick response

From: info@farenet.org
Subject: RE:
Date: 29 June 2011 14:20:48 BDT
To: byerley_turk@cqm.co.uk
Reply-To: info@farenet.org

Dear Mark,

Thank you for your email.

We received many complaints about Celtic FC earlier this year. We informed
the club and the SFA about this and asked them to reply directly to those
who had complained as FARE's specific focus is to look at issues that arise
within the international arena, in matches covered by UEFA or FIFA.

Kind regards

FARE PO Box 67536 London EC2P 2HY UK
www.farenet.org

If you think I deleted the respondent from the reply to Mr Dingwall, you’d be wrong.
They never put their name to the email.

The topic was again picked up on Leggat’s blog

http://leggoland2.blogspot.com/2011/06/fare-face-prosecution-threat.html

It’s all there in black and white.

To Summarise, FARE, or an agent of FARE advised Celtic Football club of the private details of Rangers fans who had complained about Sectarian Singing by the Celtic Support.

They then admitted on an email they had done so.

While Lawwell’s reply was laughable, this time it’s not the content of the letter (and it is a letter not an email) that is causing concern, it’s not only FARE apparently admitting to breaching certainly their own privacy promises, but possibly breaching Data Protection laws, and certainly raising eyebrows over their handling of personal data when the party being complained about was Celtic Football Club, while protecting the identity of the FARE Complainant at the PSV-Rangers Matches.

What is most alarming for the senders of the FARE Forms is the alleged shadowy links between FARE and Kieron Brady’s CICI organisation, and that organisation’s links to extremist Irish Republican Celtic Supporters’ Group “The Green Brigade”, and Brady’s friendship with Irish Republican Phil MacGiollaBhain.

Have they seen these details?

If so, who passed on those details?

They must be punished.
As the first link in that communication chain is FARE, it’s there that the authorities need to look at first.

DJM

Excellent Piece in "The Spectator"

A Bill That Shames Scotland

Alex Massie

Tuesday, 21st June 2011

Here's a clue for politicians: when you're asked if you've just criminalised the national anthem and all you can do is say "Er, maybe, it all kinda depends on the circumstances" the chances are that you've produced a bill that tests even the patient, hard-to-exhaust, limits of parliamentary absurdity and you should probably put it through the shredder and start again. If, that is, you should even be legislating in these matters at all.

More Here, and please follow the links within the article.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/alexmassie/7043055/a-bill-that-shames-scotland.thtml

Wasting Taxpayers’ Money – Superficial Nonsense Politics

As the dust settles after the SNP published their bill on Sectarianism on Friday the only conclusion that can be drawn from said publication is that it is a waste of time, energy and resource by a Government lacking imagination and courage.

The government have employed the most influential legal brains in Scotland to create a bill covering a range of “crimes” already covered within Scottish law.

Existing laws could easily have been amended.

This new bill should be read, in full by all Scots, in order that they too can see how their tax contributions are being wasted.

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s4/bills/01-offbehfoot/index.htm

Each document should be read in its entirety, in order that you see the sheer scale of work put in to this, including estimated costing of prison sentences.

As for the bill itself, it is worthy of some detailed analysis.

Firstly, there are 3 specific areas of interest that the bill directs itself at

1) Offensive behaviour at regulated football matches

2) Threatening communications

3) Offences outside Scotland

Area 1 is further explained thus

1) A person commits an offence if, in relation to a regulated football match:

(a) the person engages in behaviour of a kind described in subsection (2)

(2) The behaviour is—

(a) expressing hatred of, or stirring up hatred against, a group of persons based on

their membership (or presumed membership) of—

(i) a religious group,

(ii) a social or cultural group with a perceived religious affiliation,

(iii) a group defined by reference to a thing mentioned in subsection (4),

(b) expressing hatred of, or stirring up hatred against, an individual based on the

individual’s membership (or presumed membership) of a group mentioned in any

of sub-paragraphs (i) to (iii) of paragraph (a),

(c) behaviour that is motivated (wholly or partly) by hatred of a group mentioned in

any of those sub-paragraphs,

(d) behaviour that is threatening, or

(e) other behaviour that a reasonable person would be likely to consider offensive

1 Continued

and

(b) the behaviour—

(i) is likely to incite public disorder, or

(ii) would be likely to incite public disorder.

As we address Area 1, it becomes apparent that this is a “catch all” bill that will most likely be interpreted by the Police and/or the Procurator Fiscals as directed specifically by Roseanna Cunningham and Frank Mulholland, as the wording on actual offences appears to be deliberately ambiguous.

I’ve heard some observers state the wording is in said manner due to the rushed timescale of the Bill. I beg to differ.

There can be no other reason than to hide the specific interpretation of certain phrases, in order that this gets cross party support with as little opposition as possible.

As the first section continues, the bill adds the following sub sections

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2)(a) and (b) it is irrelevant whether the hatred is also

based (to any extent) on any other factor.

(4) The things referred to in subsection (2)(a)(iii) are—

(a) colour,

(b) race,

(c) nationality (including citizenship),

(d) ethnic or national origins,

(e) sexual orientation,

(f) transgender identity,

(g) disability.

The Bill then adds further Sub Sections:

(5) For the purposes of subsection (1)(b)(ii), behaviour would be likely to incite public

disorder if public disorder would be likely to occur but for the fact that—

(a) measures are in place to prevent public disorder, or

(b) persons likely to be incited to public disorder are not present or are not present in

sufficient numbers.

(6) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable—

(a) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or

to a fine, or to both, or

(b) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or

to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both.

There are, of course, two supplementary documents on the link above. As recommended, these are worth a read.

It should be cautioned that they should only be read in order to establish just how ridiculous the bill is, as you will read both documents and find no further clarity on just what will be defined sectarian, or how it will be interpreted that the recipient, or intended recipient of hate mail or worse is the victim of a sectarian crime.

Let me start with section 1, where the target group of offenders is at a football match.

On the face of it, all bases are covered, and many politicians at Holyrood will have difficulty arguing against the bill, without putting their own interpretation on the sub sections.

The volume of words throughout the 3 hefty documents belies the fact that the key aspects are covered between pages 3 and 4 of the Bill itself, with all of that element reproduced above in italics.

So what does each element mean in that key sub section 2?

(2) The behaviour is—

(a) expressing hatred of, or stirring up hatred against, a group of persons based on

their membership (or presumed membership) of—

(i) a religious group,

This is where the scratching of heads begins.

To all intents and purposes, this is indeed a statement no sensible person could disagree with, until you start to analyse each word very carefully. This will be “the law”, unless enough people mobilise against it, so one should not scan the bill, nor ignore the “small print”.

What then does “expressing hatred of” mean exactly, and what does “stirring up hatred against” mean?

Is there a different approach to constructive criticism of any group, to some hate filled fan ending every reference with “bastards”, or “scum”, or such like?

Despite the clear effort at closing legal loopholes to cover any offence the legal fraternity wish to deem sectarian, they didn’t appear to put the required time and effort in to explaining what this actually means.

How do you “stir up hatred”, and how is it measured if someone has actually stirred up hatred? Is it measured by the volume of expressions of anger on extremist websites? We really should be told.

What this means is that there can still be a level of interpretation put on test cases, which could well be inaccurate and most probably unfair.

While the disgraceful behaviour towards Neil Lennon will be covered (which it was anyway, or there would have been no arrests) either by an offender being of a different nationality or religion, it would remain to be seen how a regular victim of hatred such as Nacho Novo would be tackled?

Does this Bill cover all bases for certain expressions of hatred but not cover Catholics who play for Rangers?

The sub section lines “colour”, “race”, and “nationality including citizenship”, are very interesting indeed.

Will expressions of hatred of nationality include hatred of being British or English?

Will booing the UK national anthem be classified as such an expression?

Will the Anti-English songs of the tartan army also be addressed?

Does the addition of “citizenship” mean anything in particular or refer to specific cases in the past?

The most disappointing aspect of this bill is that it does not offer that clarity up front that could genuinely have an immediate impact on the most obvious displays of sectarianism at football matches.

It does not list songs, chants or phrases that are unacceptable, with explanations and case studies or test cases to explain why.

Why not?

Why not just state in plain language that songs or chants that are derogatory about Catholics or Protestants, or their derivative slang nicknames are captured within the bill, and state what those derivative nicknames are.

Why not just state in plain language that certain definitions as claimed by certain groups are NOT sectarian?

Why not state once and for all that the term “Hun” is sectarian?

Why not address the term “fenian”? Why has it got two Dictionary definitions, and who decides which one that an alleged offender means?

Why not address the Sectarian “Old” IRA, and the Sectarian Provisional IRA, and both subliminal and obvious support for these organisations?

Given the man hours already put in to this Bill; the effort required to implement the bill, and the effort to manage the bill on an ongoing basis, I state today that unless these issues are addressed, and some assurances given to the good people of Scotland that this Bill is a) fair, and b) of value to Scottish Society as a whole.

At a time of desperate financial woes, it is entirely inappropriate to spend in the region of £250K+ for many of the individuals who are likely to find themselves hauled up in court.

(£40K per year, plus legal costs conservatively estimated at 50K for a routine hearing)

For Area 2 of the bill (Threatening Communications), it seems simply that this is just an addition of “sectarianism” to the physical sending of hate mail, or the sending of (or posting of) offensive electronic communication either indirectly or directly at a group or individual.

Like Area 1, it will be the interpretation of the Sectarian element which will define if this is a fair bill, or an unjust one.

Many of the questions above apply here. What defines the motivation being sectarian, racist or “anti” anything?

Is it simply if the recipient, or intended recipient, or their advisors say so?

It’s at area 3 though that you start to question both the sanity and the agenda of the bill

Sections 1(1) and 5(1): offences outside Scotland

(1) As well as applying to anything done in Scotland, sections 1(1) and 5(1) also apply to

anything done outside Scotland by—

(a) a British citizen, a British Overseas Territories citizen, a British National

(Overseas) or a British Overseas citizen,

(b) a person who under the British Nationality Act 1981 (c.61) is a British subject,

(c) a British protected person within the meaning of that Act, or

(d) a person who is habitually resident in Scotland.

(2) Section 5(1) also applies to a communication made by any person from outside Scotland

if the person intends the material communicated to be read, looked at, watched or

listened to primarily in Scotland.

(3) Where an offence under section 1(1) or 5(1) is committed outside Scotland, the person

committing the offence may be prosecuted, tried and punished for the offence—

(a) in any sheriff court district in which the person is apprehended or in custody, or

(b) in such sheriff court district as the Lord Advocate may direct,

as if the offence had been committed in that district (and the offence is, for all purposes

incidental to or consequential on the trial and punishment, deemed to have been

committed in that district).

The obvious glaring hole in this policy is that it is only legally workable to chase British Citizens overseas, so Citizens of other nations outside of the UK can effectively state what they like online, or anywhere else, with impunity.

The thought that Scotland will be sending Police to Australia or Canada or the USA to pick up someone for calling someone else a term ending in Bastard (enter your own prefix as applicable) is absurd, and failure to adhere to this strand of the bill would be hypocritical and would smash any credibility that any subsequent act would carry.

There are already dissenting voices in Scotland at credible levels, and I’d ask that you join these people, while also raising specific concerns with your MSP.

If you don’t, then this bill will pass in its current state, and the interpretation of these ambiguous sub sections will be down to unelected legal people who may not share your interpretation of the key points here.

You have been warned.

DJM

http://www.takealiberty.blogspot.com/

Boys of the Old Brigade – The Myth

Today, the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland shocked many of its flock, by apparently sanctioning an article in the Scottish Catholic Observer, who share an office with the Scottish Catholic Media Office, that condoned support for the IRA by the Celtic Support.

The article cited an ill informed statement by an unnamed Sheriff in a case recently reported in the Scottish Media, where said reports also did not name the Sheriff.

http://www.sconews.co.uk/feature/9624/anti-sectarian-law-must-be-enforced/

“Bizarrely, prior to the Rangers vs Celtic match at Ibrox in April, Chief Superintendent Andy Bates, divisional commander for Glasgow South and East Renfrewshire, in his promise to ‘blitz the bigots,’ brought Celtic supporters into the equation when he said: “If you sing Boys of the Old Brigade, we’ll arrest you… If you sing anything derisory about the Pope or the Queen, we’ll consider that an arrestable offence.”
Leaving aside the fact that on the second point—singing an anti-monarchist song would see singers such as John Lydon of The Sex Pistols and Billy Bragg arrested, the first point again suggests a lack of knowledge of what is and what isn’t sectarian.
Defining sectarianism
Chief Superintendent Bates and his colleagues would have been wise to heed the outcome of a court case, in which Professor Tom Devine was called as an expert witness.
The accused in that case had been charged under Section 74 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003, with committing a breach of the peace aggravated by singing Irish Republican songs, which mentioned, in their lyrics, the IRA, in much the same was as the Boys of the Old Brigade does.
However, the sheriff concluded that doubtless some members of the public might take offence at the songs being sung in support of an organisation, which the UK Government considered to be a terrorist movement. Nonetheless, he ruled that the IRA was a military organisation, was not sectarian in intent and that those who showed support for it, real or rhetorical, were not showing ‘malice or ill will towards members of a religious group.’
“To my knowledge, little of this case was reported in the press, which is a pity because its results have significant legal implications as to how Scottish law officers and the police respond to fan behaviour at these matches,” Professor Devine said.
The equality group Celebrate Identity, Challenge Intolerance was also critical of the police in this regard. It commented: “From an equality perspective, there are no reasons whatsoever for supporters attending football matches to be arrested for singing this particular song, or any other patriotic songs that are a reflection of legitimate pride in one’s cultural, national or ethnic identity…the song Boys of the Old Brigade is a legitimate song relating to nationhood.”

What you can take from this is clear, that the Scottish Catholic Media Office, and therefore the Church itself view sectarianism as a one way street, and want the Police to clamp down on one community only. Not only that, but they are happy to re-write history and paint the IRA of the period as non sectarian, and are happy to quote serial anti Rangers activist Kieron Brady to do so.

Truth is, like the Provos, the Official IRA that the song “The Boys of The Old Brigade” refers to was a sectarian violent terrorist gang.

Respected journalist and writer Gerard Murphy wrote of the sectarian ethnic cleansing of Protestants in Cork by the IRA. The Review by fellow Roman Catholic Kevin Myers of the Irish Independent newspaper was controversial.

Both writers are clear in their condemnation of this disgusting organisation and their killing campaign against Protestants.

It is this “Old Brigade” that Celtic fans sing, and that is being condoned today by the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, and “Equality” organisation CICI.

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/kevin-myers/kevin-myers-the-ira-campaign-in-cork-against-protestants-and-nonrepublicans-was-on-a-truly-vast-scale-2417300.html

By Kevin Myers


Friday November 12 2010

GERARD Murphy's “The Year Of Disappearances -- Political Killings In Cork 1921-2” is very properly causing a major stir. Even more than Peter Hart's account of the IRA in the county, this book is revealing the terrible horror that befell the Protestants of Cork.

Moreover, it finally destroys any claim that a non-sectarian Republic could have resulted from the violence of 1916 onwards. In a society as confessionally divided as Ireland then was, with the general Catholic-nationalist and Protestant-unionist divide, political violence would inevitably lead to sectarian war.

Yet not merely does this State still celebrate the 1916 Rising as if it were a fine and noble thing, it is planning a swaggering bonanza in 2016 -- just as the remains of this pathetic, broken Republic are divided up between German banks and Chinese property dealers.

I've been writing a dissenting narrative about this period for most of my life and the response has been for me to be largely ignored by Official Ireland.

No matter. I can truthfully say that I invented the entire subject of historical journalism for the period 1914-23. Yet despite my work on the Irish and the Great War, I was not (of course) invited to participate in Sean O Mordha's acclaimed television series 'Seven Ages'.

Indeed, my exclusion by the 'Irish Times' from its supplement to mark the 90th anniversary of the Rising was one of several reasons why I resigned from that newspaper.

I say all this to establish my credentials here. Despite my knowledge, I've been astounded by Gerard Murphy's revelations, which clearly show that the campaign in Cork against Protestants and non-republicans was on a truly vast scale.

Most Belfast nationalists know of the terrible things that befell Catholics in the city in 1922. What happened in Cork was actually worse because it was accompanied by almost no chaotic street violence. It was a planned assault on a unionist community and executed with abominable method.

This villainy has been matched by the supine silence of Irish historians, to match their previous silence on Ireland the Great War. For Irish historiography has long been the academic wing of party-political republicanism, even though the main villains in Cork -- Corry, O'Donoghue and O'Hegarty -- who are at the centre of Gerard Murphy's book, should be well known to historians of the period.

The most sobering revelations concern Martin Corry, Fianna Fail TD for 40 years, a cheery psychopath and much-loved killer. How much the people of Cork knew about this vile Leeside Robespierre I cannot say. Many men -- and it is impossible to say what number -- were shot and buried at Corry's farm after being imprisoned in a nearby vault in Kilquane graveyard, which Corry called Sing Sing. As TD in the 1930s, he even jeered at James Dillon TD in Dail Eireann: "Come down and I will show you. I will show you a lot of things you never saw before. I would nearly show you Sing Sing. I am sure the Deputy would have to be very fascinating before he'd get out of it."

On St Patrick's Night in 1922 -- ie after the Truce and before the Civil War -- six members of the Young Men's Christian Association in Cork were abducted and executed at Corry's farm. That same week, half a dozen loyalist farmers were similarly disappeared in west Cork.

OVERALL, from the summer of 1920 to the start of the Civil War, 33 Protestants were shot in Cork city proper, while another 40 were killed nearby -- a total of 73 Protestant victims from a small minority community. From around 1921, IRA units murdered or "disappeared" at least 85 civilians. Some 26 were killed after the Truce, thereby making a mockery of the date that this State now chooses to commemorate the dead of all our wars -- July 11. As chilling as anything has been the toxic legacy amongst middle-class Cork Catholics, who until recently thought it chic to make jibes about a Protestant community which has never properly recovered from these terrible days. What you might call An Interim Solution.

We might have learnt all this long ago. A farmer bought some of Corry's land in the 1960s and dug up several skeletons in a mass grave. These were handed over to the local gardai at Watergrasshill, after which they vanished without trace. What a surprise.

Look. You cannot use violence in a divided society without militarising politics, after which, society's psychos and zealots feel authorised to kill their political opponents. The fundamental issue is not the dead of Cork or west Belfast: it is the use of violence to achieve political ends. It doesn't work. It kills people, but it doesn't get you what you want.

Moreover, killing innocents is not some aberration that only occurs at the end of a prolonged period of violence. The first victims in the opening minutes of 1916 -- which this Republic is dementedly determined to pretend was a poetry festival and for which it is preparing another grisly jamboree in 2016 -- were all innocent unarmed Irish people, killed in their native city. But then why not? Killing Irish people in their native cities is, after all, what our "republicans" do best of all. Step forward, Cork, 1921-22.

kmyers@independent.ie

- Kevin Myers

Myers and Murphy are not alone in exposing the real history of the Official IRA.

Eoghan Harris also wrote in the Independent of this hidden history of the Sectarian IRA.

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/digging-up-the-other-hidden-ireland-134151.html

Tuesday, 05 September 2006

IF YOU have want an insight into the intimacies of Irish history, into how the foul deeds of the past are only a few fields away, into how hard it is to tell the truth that sets us free, then I have a tale to tell. It started a few weeks ago when I got a phone call from an old school friend, Robert Kearney, whom I had not seen for over 50 years.

Robert had read my column about how The Wind that Shakes the Barley - in which, by some serendipity, his son Damien plays the Flying Column commander - had stirred memories of the April massacres of 13 West Cork Protestants in the Bandon Valley in 1922. Robert wondered if I would be interested in his researches into Ballygroman House, where he had lived from 1991-98, and which had featured in a prelude to that hard history.

We met at a fine pub in Innishannon, perfect for lunch, apart from the Wolfe Tones on the music track. After they changed the track we consumed the best bacon and cabbage outside the Sibin in Rath and Annie May's in Skibbereen. But Robert and I still kept our voices low as we reviewed the history of Ballygroman House, which stood between between Cork and Bandon, overlooking the beautiful valley of the River Bride.

Robert was not aware of the history of Ballygroman House when he bought it, but he later did some local research. What he found out largely tallies with what the historian Peter Hart learned from IRA veterans in the Seventies. Needless to say, Robert is not responsible for my account and the commentary on the atrocity which follows.

At about 2.30am, on the night of April 26, 1922, a party of anti-Treaty IRA officers from the Bandon Battalion, under the command of Michael O'Neill, broke into Ballygroman House, the home of Thomas Hornibrook, his son Samuel, and daughter Matilda, members of a respected family of Cork Protestant merchants. Also in the house was Matilda's husband, Captain Herbert Woods, a Bandon Protestant.

Given that this was the dead of night, in the middle of a civil war, with no police to call and armed men raiding Protestant farms far and wide, it was not surprising that armed intruders should strike fear into the family huddled upstairs, or that Captain Woods should have fired a shot to frighten them off - a shot which fatally wounded Michael O'Neill who was carried away by acting commander Charlie Donoghue and his men.

In the words of Peter Hart, "Revenge was swift and complete. Charlie Donoghue drove back to Bandon and returned with reinforcements - and rope." The reinforced republicans laid siege to the house until eight o'clock the next morning, when the two Hornibrooks and Captain Wood agreed to surrender on condition their lives were spared.

Charles O'Donoghue and Michael O'Neill's two brothers confronted the helpless men and asked who had fired the fatal shot. Captain Woods without ado, admitted responsibility. "I fired it." He was beaten badly - the details are dire - and the three men were taken by car towards the hilly country of Templemartin. On the way, Woods was tied to the car and dragged a few miles along the road until he died.

The next day the two Hornibrooks were told they were to be shot and were forced to dig their graves. Thomas Hornibrook threw his stick into the grave, drew himself up to face the firing squad, and told them to go ahead.

The bodies of the three men were buried secretly - but of course the location was no secret to the the large number of men from Bandon and Kilbrittain who took part - or indeed to some of their descendants today.

Neither was there much secrecy about the share-out of the spoils. Ballygroman House was looted, then burned, the plantation of trees was cut down for sale, the fences flattened and the land seized. In sum, scores of people took part in the atrocity or the aftermath.

Now for the frightening part. Nothing about the murders appeared in any Irish newspaper. No attempt was made then, or later, to look into the murders. It was as if the three men had been taken away by aliens.

And no attempt has ever been made to find the three bodies and give them a Christian burial.

It must not be assumed that the families of the three men had no feelings about what happened. But the smears about "spies" and the muddying of the waters by republican apologists which always followed such sectarian murders - and which still go on - created a climate of secrecy and shame that would have made it difficult to go digging in that area.

Even so, I was astounded to learn from Robert that Daniel Corkery, author of The Hidden Ireland, had moved into Ballygroman house in 1931, only nine years after the murders. How did he live so happily with that other Hidden Ireland? How did any of us live with it?

The answer is that there is a amnesia about the atrocities against Irish Protestants, mostly in provincial Ireland, in the period 1920/21. Apart from the propaganda of republican apologists, the silence of Irish Protestants has also protected us from some terrible truths. West Cork Protestants have told me many stories of severe suffering. But none of them is prepared to go public.

Dublin Protestants and Catholics listen to these stories with disbelief. How could such things have been hushed up, they ask.

Clearly they have no idea of how vulnerable a Methodist family can feel in the middle of remote rural area. Or how reluctant to raise the murder of a relative when the descendants of his murderers might now be good neighbours.

The amnesia has also been assisted by Irish Protestants in three other areas. First, the Church of Ireland, in the name of an empty ecumenism, has failed to call for a full accounting of what happened to southern Protestants in 1921/22.

Second, those who call themselves Protestant republicans have also played a part in the cover-up. Anytime I write about these events I can be sure that some Protestant republican will surface and tell me that he is perfectly happy, and that "it doesn't help the peace process" to look back at these things.

Finally, some Irish Protestants put the soft life before their duty to the dead. On previous form, my mailbag next week is sure to bring anonymous letters from Dublin Protestant blow-ins to West Cork telling me how well they get on with their RC neighbours and signed Blissfully Happy.

Let me make something clear to empty ecumenists, Protestant republicans and blissfully happies alike. This has nothing to do with you. Most of us digging for truth are from Roman Catholic republican backgrounds. We are digging because justice must be done even if the heavens fall.

Right now, the unholy alliance of Protestant republicans and republican apologists is keeping the Hornibrooks buried. But, as Yeats said:


Though grave-digger's toil is long,/Sharp their spades, their muscles
strong,/ They but thrust their buried men/ Back in the human mind again

Let’s be clear. Singing “The Boys of the Old Brigade, is to sing support of the Sectarian IRA, which was responsible for the Ethnic Cleansing of Cork and beyond.

There is no excuse to condone anyone singing this song, unless you condone ethnic cleansing and murder on the basis of someone’s religious beliefs.

DJM

Fighting Sectarianism With One Eye Closed.

When the subject of Sectarianism, or religious bigotry is aired in Glasgow, rarely, if ever does the subject of segregated schooling come under any level of scrutiny, despite those at the sharp end of such Projects as Sense over Sectarianism, or Nil By Mouth recounting their experiences of segregated education as a contributory factor towards Sectarianism

Alison Logan (Sense over Sectarianism)

"When I was a child I went to Craigbank Secondary School, as it was then, and the Catholic school Bellarmine was close by and there was always tension. "Part of that was territorial, but a lot of it was about 'we're us and they're them'. It was that Catholic/Protestant divide.”

Helen Miller (Nil By Mouth), 2003

“NIL BY MOUTH has stepped up its fight against bigotry in Scotland by appointing its first co-ordinator, Northern Ireland-born Helen Miller, who understands the issues only too well. SHEILA HAMILTON reports…..

….For most of her childhood, Helen, too, accepted the status quo. She was born and brought up in Coleraine, County Derry, and was 15 before she got to know young people from the same town who were from "the other side".

"It was segregated schools, segregated buses, segregated youth clubs," she shrugged. "You go to church and all the youth clubs are linked to that church and you never met any children from the other community."

The real shame is that sinister forces forced a position shift from Miller a year later in November 2004, following an interview on BBC Radio Scotland with NbM Trustee Peter McLean, who formerly worked for Celtic Football Club, wrote for the Catholic Herald and worked as spokesman for Cardinal Winning at Glasgow’s Archdiocese.

“With regards to your comments on the joint campus issue in North Lanarkshire, Nil by Mouth strongly support the principle of joint campus schools. We believe that joint campus schools can help to address the separation that currently exists in some communities. Joint campus schools give children from different religious and cultural backgrounds the opportunity to mix together and in a country where we have a diversity of faiths and a tradition of denominational schools, joint campus schools offer a way forward where religious diversity can be maintained in an inclusive and respectful environment.

Since joint campus schools are a relatively new phenomenon in Scotland Nil by Mouth recognise that there will be problems in the early stages as has been evident in North Lanarkshire. However, joint campus schools are going ahead in North Lanarkshire and this is something that Nil by Mouth view as positive. As the programme develops and teachers, children and parents settle into the new system they may decided to make changes in staff rooms, gates etc but for now the local authority appears to have consulted and negotiated a compromise to implement change the joint campus programme as sensitively as possible.”

Remember, that this is the “joint campus” in my previous post, where the RC Church fought against any shared aspect that would have resulted in children of different faiths actually talking to each other.

Quite what prompted the shift one will never know, but the untainted quote straight from her experiences compared with a policy of segregation cloaked under “joint” branding is radically different. I wonder why.

DJM

More Evidence of Celtic's IRA Support

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf2mRzUc2PA

Celtic's Sectarian Shame

This song seems to have sneaked under the radar. It's the Celtic support's disgusting homage to the Provisional IRA hunger strikers.

Unlike other Rebel songs, which apologists argue are from a "peaceful" period, this song has absolutely no defence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi5Q6EsbB-E

It has been sung with vigour this season and is now one of the most popular songs of the Celtic support, both home and away

Lyrics:

THE ROLL OF HONOUR 

Read the roll of honour for Ireland's bravest men 
We must be united in memory of the ten 
England you're a monster, don't think that you have won 
We will never be defeated while Ireland has such sons 

In those dreary H-Block cages ten brave young Irishmen lay 
Hungering for justice while their young lives ebbed away 
For their rights as Irish soldiers and to free their native land 
They stood beside their leader the gallant Bobby Sands 

Now they mourn Hughes in Bellaghy, Ray McCreish in Armagh's hill 
In those narrow streets of Derry they miss O'Hara still, 
They so proudly gave their young lives to break Britannia's hold 
Their names shall be remembered as history unfolds 

Chorus 

Through the war torn streets of Ulster the black flags did sadly wave 
To salute ten Irish martyrs, the bravest of the brave 
Joe McDonnell, Martin Hurson, Kevin Lynch, Kieran Doherty 
They gave their lives for freedom with Thomas McElwee 

Michael Devine from Derry you were the last to die 
With your nine brave companions, with the martyred dead you lie 
Your souls cry out "Remember, our deaths are not in vain 
Fight on and make our homeland a nation once again" 

Chorus

Archive: Catholic Church refuse to share a Door with Non Catholics

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3916941.stm

Church blocks shared campus plans

The Roman Catholic Church has withdrawn from plans to create seven shared campuses for Catholic and non-denominational primary schools. Discussions with North Lanarkshire Council have been ongoing for the last 18 months. But the Right Rev Joseph Devine, Bishop of Motherwell, said the church could not go ahead because of concerns the schools would lose their identity. Council Leader Jim McCabe said he was "bemused and disappointed". Bishop Devine said he had concluded that the council was not prepared to meet the needs of the Catholic community and guarantee the satisfactory provision of Catholic education. The church has expressed strong opposition to having too many shared facilities and common entrances. The bishop said: "From the outset of discussions, I expressed my deepest reservations about the council's intention to replace St Aloysius, a school of over 300 pupils, with a new building in which significant facilities would be shared with the non-denominational school." He added: "It has now become clear that North Lanarkshire Council is not prepared to make the design changes which the diocese has sought. "Accordingly, I have informed the council that it is pursuing a flawed policy in its determination to promote shared campus provision on this basis in these communities." Michael McGrath, director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service, said: "When the council eventually provided the building plans, it was clear that the council was determined to maximise the provision of shared facilities." An executive spokesman said: "The First Minister has received the letter from Bishop Joseph Devine and will reply in due course. "The Catholic Church has asked the executive, under Section 22D of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, to satisfy itself that North Lanarkshire's proposals for joint campuses do not represent a "significant deterioration" in the position of denominational schools and provide suitable arrangements for religious instruction of the pupils affected by the proposals. CATHOLIC SCHOOLS AFFECTED St Aloysius, Chapelhall St Ignatius, Wishaw St Mary's, Caldercruix St David's, Plains St Kevin's, Bargeddie Our Lady and St Joseph, Glenboig St Patrick's, New Stevenston "We will therefore liaise further with North Lanarkshire Council. Council Leader Jim McCabe said: "I am surprised and disappointed at the Bishop's announcement. "Following my last meeting with Bishop Devine and his representatives, which was very constructive, there were real signs of a positive outcome to our discussions. "I now find myself bemused and disappointed. However, if the Bishop wishes to discuss this matter with me further, I will make myself available."

9 Years On What's Changed? Celtic & IRA Songs

Nothing. Only the names.

Celtic seek end to 'IRA chants'

The club appealed to fans to stop singing rebel songs

Celtic Football Club has made an unprecedented appeal to a "vocal minority" of its supporters to stop chanting IRA slogans during games. Ian McLeod, the club's chief executive, has written to more than 50,000 season ticket holders, asking for an end to the singing of the rebel songs.
The call comes after chanting by some Celtic fans during a minute's silence for the victims of the 11 September terrorist attacks.
In his letter, Mr McLeod urges fans not to support or condone such actions.

This action by a minority will undoubtedly lead to criticism of Celtic Football Club

Ian McLeod Celtic chief executive

The anti-sectarian group, Nil by Mouth, has welcomed the move but spokesman Peter McLean said the Old Firm could go further and ban the bigots.
"I think it's a step in the right direction and is to be commended," he said.
"However, Nil By Mouth would like to see Celtic and Rangers both go a step further and remove 10 supporters each time sectarian singing is heard en masse.
"Ban them from the grounds and publicise their actions as a deterrent to others."
Political beliefs
Mr McLeod said the problem was most obvious among a section of the Parkhead club's away support and made specific reference to the televised game with Motherwell last week.
He criticised the perception among some that a celebration of the club's Irish roots was in itself a sectarian act.
"We are a football club first and foremost and clearly it is not our position to dictate to anyone what their political beliefs or actions should or should not be," he writes.

The club is proud of its Irish roots

"However, it is equally our responsibility to ensure that the club, as a non-political organisation, retains its political independence by appealling to those who participate in such activities in the name of Celtic Football Club, to stop doing so."
The club and its fans should be proud of the Irish immigrants who helped create the club in the east end of Glasgow in 1888.
However, Mr McLeod also writes that the IRA chanting cannot be allowed to continue.
"This action by a minority will undoubtedly lead to criticism of Celtic Football Club and indeed has led to calls at Celtic Park (not for the first time) from Celtic supporters who do not share these political belifs but find themselves linked to them by association."
Campaign group
Mr McLeod said he had received many letters from concerned fans "that the club is used as a vehicle to promote political messages by this vocal minority".
Former Celtic director Michael Kelly said: "I think it's a landmark statement. The club has now been quite specific on where it stands on these political and sectarian matters.
"The club has never gone as far as this before."
In 2000 Cara Henderson, whose boyfriend was killed in a sectarian attack, teamed up with Celtic and Rangers football clubs in an attempt to end religious bigotry.

Peter McLean: "Ban the culprits"

She was 16 when Celtic fan Mark Scott was stabbed to death by a complete stranger as he walked home past a Rangers pub in Glasgow.
Nil By Mouth was launched in the summer of 2000 and has since received praise from Scotland's politicians and the Old Firm clubs.
Anti-sectarian campaigner Donald Gorrie, Liberal Democrat Central Scotland MSP, said: "It is entirely appropriate that the Celtic Football Club is calling for supporters to ensure they do not support or condone the chanting of sectarian songs and slogans at matches."
Scottish National Party justice spokeswoman Roseanna Cunningham also backed Celtic's move, describing sectarianism as a "blight on Scottish society".
She called on Rangers to make a similar move and urge its supporters not to sing sectarian songs.

Archive: Bishop Admits Sectarian Problem

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2274383.stm

Bishop admits sectarian problem

Bishop Devine said Catholic education is divisive

Catholic education is "divisive" and contributes to the problem of "sectarianism", according to a Scottish bishop. But Joseph Devine, Bishop of Motherwell, told the Sunday Herald newspaper it was sometimes "a price worth paying".
Liberal Democrat MSP Donald Gorrie has said ending Catholic schooling would help ease sectarianism north of the border.
The Scottish Executive, police chiefs, racial equality campaigners and the Old Firm clubs have met this year to discuss the problem.

Donald Gorrie: Suggested end to segregation

Bishop Devine said: "Denominational education is an enabler of sectarianism.
"Roman Catholic schooling is divisive - sometimes it's a price worth paying.
"The Catholic community believes that with denominational schooling comes the creation of a common set of values - a coherent system that has the academic curriculum and moral and spiritual life in tandem."
Mr Gorrie said in February that "society might be better" if the Catholic schools system in Scotland was ended.
Kirk challenge
However, he said such a move could not be materialise until Catholics agreed it was the right course of action.
His comments prompted an angry reaction from John Oates, of the Catholic Education Commission.
Mr Oates said Catholic schools were the antithesis of bigotry and sectarianism, and to suggest otherwise was "insulting".
Scottish Tory MSP Brian Monteith challenged the Church of Scotland to consider promoting its own denominational schools.
Mr Monteith in June used used England as an example of a society which provided faith-based schools without the "tribal warfare" that exists north of the border.
Chants plea
Where Muslim schools exist, the relationship between different ethnic groups is far more harmonious, he said.
Last week, Celtic chief executive Ian McLeod wrote to supporters of the Glasgow club to appeal for an end to IRA chants during games.
In his letter, Mr McLeod urges fans not to support or condone such actions.
The anti-sectarian group, Nil by Mouth, has welcomed the move but spokesman Peter McLean said the Old Firm could go further and ban the bigots.

Statistics - Clarity Required

A well researched piece from a Rangers site, who don't often stray in to this territory

Sectarian Statistics - Clarity Required

Written by Opportunity Knox

Friday, 20 May 2011 14:28

Today, I will join the Roman Catholic Church in asking that the Scottish Government provide a detailed breakdown of Sectarian Crime statistics for the period 2010 to 2011. The Church has expressed anger at the rise in Sectarian Crime in Scotland over the last 18 months. http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Catholic-anger-at-growth-in.6770700.jp This comes just weeks after the figures were released by the Government as referred to here. http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/bomb-threats-vile-websites-songs-of-bloodlust-and-hate-1.1097708 Quite clearly, both reports are slanted to imply that the highest ratio of sectarian crime is by Protestants on Catholics, despite there being absolutely no evidence within the figures released to justify this. Indeed, the accompanying photograph in the Herald shows the Rangers support, but carries no picture of any other grouping of people. The message is clear. Indeed, the very appearance of an “angry” Catholic church in yesterday’s Scotsman at the recent rise in sectarian crime paints a picture. It sows the seed in your brain that the anger is due to the fact that the rise is in Anti Catholic crime. This is a great shame, as the finger pointing on sectarianism so prevalent in Scotland in recent decades has done nothing to eradicate the problem. Firstly, we should always put Sectarian Crime and associated offences in to perspective. In 2010/2011 there were 693 incidents of religiously motivated crimes/offences, which is 693 too many. In Context to the overall crime figures in Scotland though it is a miniscule problem, that is disproportionately reported in Scotland’s Media. Scotland’s total volume of reported crime and offences for the most recently reported period of 2009/2010 is 901,763 (source Scottish Government Crime Trends report). The percentage of sectarian crime of all crime in Scotland sits at 0.077% I’ll let that sink in. Then repeat it. The percentage of sectarian crime of all crime in Scotland sits at 0.077% Right, now the picture is starting to become clearer I’ll move on. There were more firearms offences in Scotland in 2009-2010 than Sectarian Crime (839) There were ten times more crimes of indecency than Sectarian Crime in the period (6548) There were six times more racially motivated crimes in Scotland than Sectarian (4513) The reportage of sectarian crime itself is an issue. As there has been no detailed breakdown of Sectarian Crime since the 2004-2005 period , the spin put on that set of statistics, which was misleading at the time, is becoming accepted as evidence that sectarian crime is a Protestant Problem. Perhaps those statistics should be revisited. Then, as now, the media allowed the RC Church to misrepresent the data, spin it, and effectively lie about the content of it. Lets recap. In that period, there were 726 cases. Of that 726, 64% were “Anti-catholic”, and 31% were “Anti-Protestant”. The reports that followed included the headlines “Catholics bear brunt of Sectarianism”, and “Catholics 5 times more likely than Protestants to be victims of Sectarianism” Given that no-one bothered to add context such as religious profiling within the Population these statements were wildly inaccurate, as were counter claims that 15.9 % of the Population (Catholics) could be responsible for 31% of all sectarian crime therefore twice as likely to commit sectarian crime than Protestants. The reality is that the vast majority of the sectarian offences and crimes took place in the West of Scotland. The population split in Glasgow and surrounding areas is closer to a 60/30/10 split, with 60% being nominally Protestant, 30% being nominally Catholic, and 10% being other, which almost exactly matches the ratio of Sectarian crime, ie that both sides are equally culpable. What this tells you is that Sectarianism is most certainly a two way street, but that there are agendas at work both from the Catholic Church in Scotland, and from the Media to present it as an Anti Catholic agenda. One can only wonder as to the motivation to do it. What do they have to gain by a) talking up sectarianism, and b) distorting the picture on it? The real shame is that the authorities’ reluctance to go in to detail allows the church and various talking heads to perpetuate an untruth, and keep the sectarianism gravy train running. It also allows Non Catholics to be demonised, which in itself is an act of bigotry It also allows Rangers Football club and their support to suffer as their club becomes “tarnished” by a taint that it does not deserve. The “fight” against “Sectarianism” has upped a gear in the last month once again with familiar faces from Jack McConnell to Jim Murphy to George Galloway to Peter Kearney to assembled agenda led activists at BBC Scotland all on the attack. If they were genuine in intent, they would recognise publicly the true ratio of sectarianism to Scottish Crime, the ratio of Anti Protestant and Anti Catholic crime, and recognise the real presence of sectarianism within the Celtic support, in the presence of support for the Sectarian Provisional IRA. Only Alex Salmond can wade in to this, and offer a real picture, although the funding of the SNP may well hinder the chances of that. Welcome to Scotland. One Country, Many Cultures. As long as the culture isn’t Protestant. OpportunityKnox

Celtic's Subliminal Support for the IRA

http://www.followfollow.com/news/tmnw/celtic_to_play_ira_anthem_677782/index.shtml

http://www.redaction.org/ireland/rebel_music.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ILYPFZIky8


Republican Gary Og plays this in front of an Irish Tricolour emblazened with the word "rebel". Yet, unbelievably, the response on some Celtic boards today was to deny that the song has any republican connection.

Celtic Football Club are sanctioning this subliminal support, in the hope less informed people don't know what they are doing. We do.

Celtic's Extremist Element

Social Divisions

http://www.scottishaffairs.org/backiss/pdfs/sa29/SA29_Bruce.pdf

Sectarianism in Scotland Preview

The book is previewed on Google Books, is essential, and can be bought at all good book shops

Sectarianism in Scotland

Scottish sectarianism? Let's lay this myth to rest

Professor Steve Bruce, writing recently in the Guardian

Scotland's disgrace is not religious bigotry. It is the unthinking way in which sectarianism is assumed, without evidence

In the runup to the Easter Sunday Old Firm game historical animosities between Celtic and Rangers supporters have been in the spotlight following the security threats against Celtic manager Neil Lennon, his lawyer Paul McBride and the former MSP Trish Godman. But those animosities should not be allowed to dominate or distort perceptions of the Scots, or of Scottish culture.
Most Scots are not football fans; most fans do not support Rangers or Celtic; most Rangers and Celtic fans are not religious bigots. That some Rangers and Celtic fans wind each other up by falsely claiming to have strong religio-ethnic identities which are offended by the equally false religio-ethnic identities of the other side is not a reason for the rest of us to take such ritual posturing as the basis for judging the polity, society and culture of an entire country.
The sectarianism of Scotland is a myth: popular in some places but a myth nonetheless. A major survey in 2001 in Glasgow showed that many people thought sectarianism discrimination in employment was common but that none had suffered it themselves – it was something they had heard had happened to others.
We are now able to test claims of labour market discrimination with a vast body of information because the 2001 census recorded people's current religion and religion of upbringing as well as data on jobs, education and income.
And the religious constituency with the poorest socio-economic profile? Not those raised as Catholics but those raised with "no religion". Why the children of the ungodly should be disadvantaged remain a mystery, but it is clear the census data offers no evidence for widespread anti-Catholic discrimination in the economy.
A second component of the sectarian myth is the violence that bigotry supposedly produces. Again, when surveyed many Glaswegians said that sectarian violence was commonplace but very few had personally experienced any.
The Glasgow survey asked respondents if they had been the victims of a variety of crimes in the previous five years. It found "no significant difference with regard to the level of crime experience by respondents who classified themselves as Catholic and those who classified themselves as belonging to a Protestant faith".
The few respondents who had been victimised were asked to guess why they had suffered: gender, country of origin and sexual orientation were cited as often as religion, and all of those came a very long way behind "the area where you live".
In total, less than 1% of those surveyed thought they had been victimised because of their religion and one of those seven individuals was non-Christian.
Myths thrive on naivety, carelessness and exaggeration. In a fine example of Chinese whispers, a report that claimed 11 Old Firm-related murders in 18 years was inflated by a spokesman for the anti-sectarian campaigning organisation Nil By Mouth into "Eight murders with a sectarian element in the last few years" and by a Church of Scotland committee into "11 Rangers and Celtic fans" in seven years.
Religious identity did not actually feature in any of the 11 homicides claimed in the original report, and the Old Firm football element was often trivial. For instance one drunk punched another (who subsequently died) for ruining his new football shirt. It could have been a Hearts or a Dunfermline shirt. It happened to be a Rangers top. Colleagues who looked closely at the cases concluded that at most, less than one third of 1% of Scots homicides over an 18-year period had any sort of sectarian element, and it was invariably football allegiance rather than religion or inherited ethic identity.
A large part of my research career has been taken up with Northern Ireland. I know what sectarianism looks like. When Irish migrants settled in large numbers at the end of the 19th and start of the 20th century, some Scots objected to what they feared was union-bashing cheap labour. Others objected to what they believed was a false and dangerous religion.
But Scotland never divided in the way Ireland did. It did not divide politically: the native Scots who worked with the Irish settlers and their children in the labour movement and in the Labour party always vastly outnumbered those who supported tiny and short-lived anti-Catholic parties.
Scotland never divided residentially: nowhere in Scotland displayed Belfast's pattern of residential segregation. And despite the Catholic church insisting on maintaining a separate school system, social mixing has always been common and, as interest in religion has declined, intermarriage has become commonplace. In Northern Ireland only about 6% of marriages are mixed but in the 1990s, just over half of Scots Catholics under 35 who were married had non-Catholic partners.
Scotland's disgrace is not religious bigotry. It is the unthinking way in which sectarianism is assumed. In 2004, on the Sunday after a heated Rangers-Celtic game, a Sunday tabloid newspaper ran a two-page story under the headline "Real toll of that Old Firm mayhem". One page was given over to a fire which severely damaged a Catholic church in Stornoway. The implication was clear: "Priest's church blaze agony" was caused by "Old Firm Mayhem". The boring truth, which merited just one column inch in a sister tabloid the following week, was that the fire was caused by an electrical fault.