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The Lafferty Scandal Is The Absolute Proof Of What Scotland Still Allows.

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When is bigotry and sectarianism acceptable? Never! When is bigotry and sectarianism acceptable in Scotland? When its levelled at the Irish Catholic community it seems.

Let’s be clear, not all of our support are either Irish or Catholic but tribally a large number of Scottish Celtic fans identify culturally with that group due to ancestry, schooling, upbringing etc.

Basically if you support Celtic there’s a noisy, influential section of society who generalize us as ‘fenians’ and fenian bastard is a pejorative that’s used so often in Scotland the authorities and institutions either ignore it or worse, perpetuate it.

Anti-Irishness within the Scottish establishment is so widespread and entrenched it’s very easy for the relevant institutions to gaslight the victims of this form of racism should they attempt to have it addressed.

We all know the history of the mass immigration that took place as a consequence of the genocidal policies of imperial Britain in Ireland and we all know the difficulties the Irish community faced from the Protestant Scottish establishment and the violence and discrimination that followed.

There are too many examples to list in a short article but to make a link with contemporary behaviours I’ll highlight the song ‘The Billy boys’, what it glorifies and how normalized it’s become to the extent you can regularly hear fifty thousand people frothing at the mouth singing it.

This is a song about the slashing and stabbing of Catholics by a thug who went on to form the Scottish chapter of the Klu Klux Klan. In what universe should that be something people are not ashamed to sing? In what universe should it be a song people are allowed to sing? In this one, right here. Can we imagine it was about killing Jews or people of colour? People would be furious and disgusted and there would be an outcry so vast you’d never hear it again.

Scottish society can raise itself up like this when it wants to. It was forced to when John Reid was chairman of Celtic and the anti-Irish Famine Song reared its head. A few questions in Parliament, the Irish Government raising it in Strasbourg and the silence fell like a hammer on an anvil.

But The Billy Boys … it’s part of the “culture” of the Ibrox club and so no-one even blinks.

Another example that always sticks in my head was the murder of a young Celtic fan by Orange Order thug Jason Campbell in the late 90’s simply for having a Celtic scarf on after a game on a Saturday. Campbell claimed it was a political act and requested political prisoner status. This sociopathic coward thought he would be treated more leniently for claiming that he actually targeted this kid as a Catholic rather than it just being the random murder of a child in the street. Think about that for a minute!

Fast forward to 2023 and the murky polluted world of Scottish football.

Again, we all know about the institutions.

The Lanarkshire referee lodge, the ‘FTP’ emails by the head honcho of that institution. The fact that his son is now a Grade 1 referee, the former Ibrox season ticket holder allowed to referee the club he supports and their rivals, the after dinner speakers gloating about decisions against the fenians, the former Ibrox youth player given the same freedoms, the list goes on.

And the response by the hordes to the perfectly reasonable and legitimate criticism of these aberrations? One of the referees taught at a catholic school!

It’s such a stupid and ignorant statement that it’s difficult to actually get your head around it, but that’s the environment we’re in.

So no one should be surprised that serial bigot and halfwit Kyle Lafferty fresh from a ban for an overt display of bigotry and sectarianism (the term we use in Scotland instead of racism) had powder puff media pieces and ringing endorsements from his manager about how he was champing at the bit to play against Celtic at the weekend, not that it turned out well for him or his club … a little left-handed justice there in my personal view.

But imagine he’d been filmed making the same comments about any other ethnic group? He would be vilified and demonized by our media and the stigma would be such that his career would quite probably be over.

As it is he strolled out of the tunnel as if nothing happened, safe in the knowledge that the conscious and unconscious bias, cognitive dissonance and overt sectarianism rooted in the psyche of our society means there’s nothing to see here. It was a section of the Celtic support, who lashed out at this bigot with some less than savoury sentiments of their own, who wound up in the spotlight. A case of victim blaming if ever there was one.

When Celtic minded people complain about this or the ridiculous refereeing situation, we’re gaslit with scoffs of paranoia or accused of fomenting conspiracy.

Sectarianism is a hot potato in Scotland, no one with the authority to make changes wants to lift up the rock because they know what they’ll find underneath.

A societal cancer that would require a generation-long educational drive to have any hope of success, that would be resisted fiercely by those who believe their ‘culture’ entitles them to have those views.

It’s been kicked down the road and skirted around for far too long.

We have a government who legislates to prevent discrimination based on protected characteristics like ethnicity, gender, religion, sexuality etc, its high time they started enforcing it and grasped the nettle of sectarianism rather than turning a blind eye and expecting the football institutions to deal with it internally.

They never have and they never will.

It’s not a ‘sporting’ issue, it’s a criminal justice issue and what Lafferty did merited more than a poxy ban for a few games. That was meaningless. In a sane universe his manager would chase him out the club and the media would report objectively about the appalling example he sets and the responsibility of professional sports people to be good role-models.

Unfortunately, we don’t live in a sane universe, we live in Scotland, the best wee country in the world, the one where this stuff is still tolerated. Just not by its victims.

Chris Cominato is a Celtic fan and occasional contributor to the site. He is one of the admin team on The CelticBlog Facebook group.

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  • Scud Missile says:

    I left school at 16 and on applying for my first job on the application was a part asking what schools I had gone to,when I put the names down their mind was made up I never even got to the interview stage.
    Later on I got talking to someone I had known who was also employed in that work place, he told the slang term for my application going nowhere was,you kick with the wrong foot,in other words your a Catholic and they don’t employ Catholics.
    That was way back in 1982,and it still continues to this very day.

    • john mc guire says:

      anytim should try Tennants down in Duke St Glasgow the boss of the football team i was playing for told a few boys in the team that Tennants was hiring and to use his name 4 of use filled in the form 3 got started mines went into the bin opps he forgot i was a tim oh how they found it funny that was in the early 1970ss .

    • Alferdthepict says:

      Arround the same time I attended an interview with a ch company in Cumbernauld. During the interview I’d decided I wasn’t taking this job,poie wages etc then I was asked what team I supported ? Looking straight in the eye I said Stirling Albion ! Should have seen his confused expression !

  • Bob (original) says:

    To make meaningful change in Scottish football,

    we need a smart, experienced, brave and highly capable SFA CEO.

    Instead we have the invisible, deeply unimpressive Ian Maxwell,

    with an ‘O’ level in Home Economics, [maybe?] 🙁

    “Continuous Improvement” remains an unrecognised term at Hampden.

  • Johnny Green says:

    Scud book went to school……My gast is flabbered.

  • Jae Walker says:

    If memory serves me correctly, didn’t Lawrie McMenamy get caught on microphone making a derogatory comment about Arabs? Apologies if I’m not completely accurate. But that ended his pundit career overnight. He should have moved to Scotland. Sevco would have named a supporters klub after him.

    Also wasn’t Big Lafatmee sending unsolicited dicpics to a random female he saw at a shopping mall? He should have been placed on the sex offenders register for it

    So to my count, that’s two serious criminal offences this guy has committed. But for whatever reason, he’s never been interviewed by the police or charged. I wonder why indeed.

    • Eire goCeltic says:

      If the pundit was speaking about Dundee Utd supporters, it would not offend; although it is not their preferred nick name. The Club had a synthetic pitch that was heavily top-dressed with sand brought-in from Arabia?. Thus the name. It was a funny name at the time and not intended to stick and it hasn’t. The once popular media are the main ones that continue to use the name. The pundit may not have been speaking in this context. Could be wrong.

      • Frank brodie says:

        Jae I doubt sevco supporters would say anything good about devout RC Laurie mcmenamy who famously asked Charlie nick after he moved to Arsenal if he still attended mass hh

      • Seppington says:

        You are wrong, this was in England and he was not talking about Dundee United.. And it wasn’t Lawrie McMenamy it was Ron Atkinson and he made a comment about black players IIRC…

  • Johnny Green says:

    Not only did Jason Campbell murder a teenage Celtic supporter, the then vice-chairman of Rangers, Donald Findlay Q.C., defended that vile reptile in court. WTF!

    • Alferdthepict says:

      From memory his request to serve sentence in Belfast was opposed by the UVF ! They disassociated themselves from his murder. Strange world indeed !

  • Tony Griffin says:

    Excellent article – hits the nail squarely on the head in a forceful way. Brilliantly written!

  • John S says:

    This issue affects people’s lives. Best woodworker in the school never got an apprenticeship because it was the ‘wrong’ school. Criminal escapes justice because he went to the ‘right’ school. Drunken bigots beating up folk of a weekend because they’re wearing green. And so on…and on…

  • Peterbrady says:

    The problem is not the indocraneted scum the problem is decent law abiding citizens except ing this bile let’s just say the last vermin who used thaey words against me me was bedridden surving out of a straw . FACT. And the restraint I should was unbelievable I still see the wreck stumbling mumblings about and all his interbred family know I done it but they are all yellow streaks of pish and they know I am only looking for a excuse to do it again

    • SFATHENADIROFCHIFTINESS says:

      Brave you ‘ only looking for an excuse ….’and that makes you a better man than them?Attitudes like that amongst part of our support are part of the problem.
      That section of our fan base need ´Education’ as well.

    • Alferdthepict says:

      At 16 my first day at Lauder Tech Dunfermline a wee hun called me a fenland bastard. After blacking is right eye at home I asked my mum what a fenland was ( I new what a bastard was ) she explained about the Fenian brotherhood next day I blackened his other eye ! Strangely never had any broilers after that!

  • Donnie Steele says:

    Well written, great job Chris

  • Bunter says:

    Articles like this are why the blogs are crucial nowadays. We need to continually highlight the racism and discrimination that’s never mentioned in the MSM. More power to you Chris. Great article.

  • Roonsa says:

    Brilliant. That was absolutely fucking brilliant.

    Bravo.

  • Patrick Doherty says:

    Well said sir, excellent article.

  • Kevan McKeown says:

    It’s not just against Irish-Catholics, it’s against the Catholic faith and its followers full stop. Ugly minded intolerance mostly prevalent in the SW Scotland. We’re reminded of it, every summer especially. Would the same ‘acceptability’ be shown by the government if it were i.e. Muslim, Jewish cultures that were being treated the same. Not a chance ! ! ! As a certain song goes ‘quick to judge, quick to anger, slow to understand. For ignorance and prejudice and fear walk hand in hand’. Sums bigots up perfectly. (The songs ‘witch hunt’ from Rush btw).

  • Sarah says:

    Sturgeon silent on Lafferty but tripping over herself on Celtic during covid or David Goodwillie case. Salmond said old Rangers were part of the fabric of Scottish society. Enough said.

  • Marcus Martin says:

    Well written article which highlights what we have to endure in this racist sectarian wee country.

  • Somehow says:

    Plenty of dodgy songs, sung by Celtic fans too James. As for Scottish society, the Education Act 1918 which allowed for the provision of Denominational schooling was a mistake. The RC Church didn’t want their pupils mixing wiith “other’ kids and the Scottish Protestant establishment were only to happy to oblige since then they could ask any job applicant which school they went to. Simples.

    • Kevan McKeown says:

      Agree, denominational schooling is counter productive imo. Kids should be allowed tae grow up seein each other the way they are, without the divisional, religious baggage. The problem with that is and it is worth consideration, even in Scottish ‘non-denominational’ primary schools, the kids are (or were), tought a basic religious education, which is (was) taken from the Church of Scotland bible. Understandably, can see how that might’ve caused an element of concern for parents who were practising catholic. Non-denominational should mean exactly that. Dont know if its the same, but certainly was the situation when i was younger. If a family wants their kid tae be brought up practising any particular religion (hopefully sensibly), it should be in their own household, churches etc. Should be kept away from schools. Anyhow, personally, in SW Scotland, wi my name ah was fooked from the start goin for certain jobs. When they heard yer name ye would think a leper had just walked in the door.

    • Alferdthepict says:

      Come on mate check your history ! The act came about because Catholics were being excluded from schools entirely. The Church was doing the educating required. Shades of the USA deep south !

  • Gerard hassard says:

    Great article highlighting this great wee country can’t see it ever changing but keep up the great writing??????

  • Kieran Dougan says:

    Well said Chris, I couldn’t agree more. How can anyone from Scotland say they are proud to be Scottish if they are from an Irish Catholic upbringing?? It’s hypocritical, I’m a hypocrite, I’m proud to be Scottish but when you read your article it makes you question your sanity.

  • John knotts says:

    I commend you on this piece it rankles so much about how the powers that be condone it as yes a 10 game ban is condoneing it but until it gets dealt with properly we will remain the targets

  • Therese Storrie says:

    This argument about Catholic schools is appalling
    We fought long and hard to get our schools To think of anyone saying they are a cause of contention is really out of order
    No Catholic schools I know teach discrimination
    Try using that about any other Faith schools and your feet wouldn’t touch the ground on the way to court Many Faiths are queuing up to get into Catholic schools one of these reasons being it’s tolerance towards other Faiths
    Oh and as many non Catholics and other Faiths support Celtic this argument is moot
    It is the way we are treated simply because we are Catholic that should be addressed Only in Scotland eh ?

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