There is not a person in Scotland – at least not one who does not work at The Daily Record or at one of the mainstream titles – who is unaware that this weekend the Ibrox fans turned the hatred up to a hundred by singing songs wishing death on the Hibs player Martin Boyle as he lay prone and unconscious on the pitch at the game at Easter Road.
Whilst it’s impossible to say for sure whether or not those who do work in Scotland’s mainstream media heard what was being sung, they may as well all have been deaf because not one of them bothered to report it in any great detail, and even fewer gave it the unequivocal condemnation that it deserves. Jim Delahunt, thank you.
Almost everyone else played their pointless, sordid little game; hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil especially if that involves condemning anything to do with Ibrox.
As messed up as that is, as bad as those people are, I would almost rather have them than those who decided that they would discuss it, but only in a wider context, only if in doing so they could drag Celtic and our fans through the same filthy gutter. Because those people are the bigger problem.
I can’t stand those people, intellectually lazy or simply using us a shield so that Ibrox’s fan base escapes the scrutiny it deserves and the oppobrium it has earned.
Those people who continue to push this “Old Firm” cobblers, this “one side is as bad as the other” bullshit.
Those people and their whataboutery, which is what allows bigots to continue vomiting up their bile, poisoning the game and the culture and the country as a whole. Nothing does more to toxify the debate we need to have than them.
How unfortunate for them that their idiotic remarks to that effect have been put in a very different context by the statement from Dumbarton FC in relation to an incident which happened at East Fife’s ground over the weekend, an incident involving one of their staff.
The matter is being investigated and so it would be unwise to say much more but they reference not only an ongoing police investigation but the statement expresses support for a player and his family.
That player is believed to be Gallagher Lennon, son of Neil Lennon, and if social media claims are even close to being right, he was subjected to the kind of abuse no player ever should be, and his dad with him, by an employee of his own club.
And this is the thing, right here.
This is why this “Old Firm” garbage is as offensive to a lot of us as the anti-Irish and anti-Catholic bile which is dumped on our heads morning, noon and night.
This isn’t even confined to the environs of Ibrox itself, this stuff is widespread, it’s everywhere and it’s all day every day and it’s bad enough having to deal with it, and to recognise the painful truth which is that even those not indulging it don’t particularly care. What’s worse, by far, is being told that we, in fact, are part of the problem. That really stinks.
I try not to hate people, but things would be different if I thought this was all mindless yobbery, but it’s not, this is an ideology built on hatred and supremacy and I am fully entitled to loathe those who follow such a creed and I make no apology for doing so.
I feel no sense of embarrassment or shame admitting that.
But I am damned if I’m going to have some clown like McManus tell me that I’m as bad as those people are just because I detest them for how they feel about me. I am not a poisonous person, I am what they force me to be, nothing more.
If they cease behaving that way I will cease despising them for it; it’s as Liam Neeson says in Michael Collins, “I hate them for making hate necessary.”
Lennon did nothing to justify the hatred that was poured on him over the years. His son has done even less. It’s enough for these bastards that he has that second name.
That sets off all the bells and whistles in their heads and for people like McManus to point his finger at us and claim that we’re all the same, that we’re “two heads of the coin” is more than just offensive, it’s an outrage, it’s hateful in its own right, in its ignorance, in its failure to join the dots.
Scotland’s Catholics, and especially those of Irish descent, are fully aware of the country in which we live, what it is and what it tracks back to. For the UK itself is a religious state, with a sectarian constitution and discriminatory policies baked right in.
Twice a year they burn Catholics in effigy on this island, and millions of its citizens celebrate at least one of those occasions with many of them perfectly aware of what it represents.
To be a Celtic fan at all is to inhabit an island surrounded by a sea of bitterness and spite. The reality of this is something we absorb early on and it never leaves us, and how can it when things like this are still commonplace and the media indulges in victim blaming?
But two incidents at the weekend cast the harsh light back into those corners where nobody wants it to shine. Those two incidents highlight Scotland’s Shame, and no damned former player and third-rate hack or anybody else is going to tell me that me and mine carry some of the responsibility for that.
This is where we live, and this will continue to be where we live as long as the gutless frauds and apologists and whataboutery merchants are blaming us for the behaviour of those who chant about being up to their knees in our blood.
Well said I agree and feel the exact same as yourself in what you have said in this article.
Many years ago I attended a control and restraint course at the State Hospital at Carstairs. As soon as the peepul running the course knew you were Catholic they made sure that the boundaries put in place to keep safe were pushed beyond the limit. I complained at the time but was told to ” shut up ya Fenian bastard “. This hatred exists with them at all levels and will never be called out as people are genuinely scared of the consequences for them and their friends and families.
I was at the Motherwell game recently and was walking behind a man and his partner after the game, I was unaware that they were Motherwell fans as I didn’t see their scarfs. A young Celtic fan passed by hanging out a car window a shouted Mon the Hoops in their general direction. The reaction from the Motherwell fan shocked me as he very aggressively shouted that we were to get back to our own f**king country ya fenian B’s. I politely told him that this was both Bigoted and racist and this was my country, but this incident shows that anti Irish/Catholic racism is rife throughout Scotland.
When David Murray evicted the orange order from ibrox they relocated to motherwell to have there meetings a fact they have a filthy section of fans who can’t afford the mega bus to govan , Larkhall Carluke based
Fantastic piece James.! Growing up in glasgow to irish parents, who moved over here in the late 50s, I could write a book or 2 about anti irish hatred here experienced by my family. Even to this day all I hear is both sides are the same, 2 cheeks of the same arse etc, etc, etc. This culture is inbred to these scottish clowns and they aint happy when somene ‘rocks’ their boat! I feel deeply that this has became worse due to those in a position to stand up and be counted are almost as guilty by doing f:! K all to address this problem and seek change. Currently nothing will change as ‘we are the peepul’ find it all a wee laugh as they are accountable to no-one!
KTF.
“Nothing does more to toxify the debate we need to have than them”.
James re your lifted comment above. You go on in your blog to give god knows how many reasons they would not enter into any debate on this subject.
They dont desire change in any way shape or form
My granny told me on the day of the good Friday agreement, “this is where the world changes, go you and get educated son, something I was never allowed to do, they’ll never see it coming”. Holding onto the belief you are superior because of which building you go to on a Sunday doesn’t matter anymore, the DUP have found it out the hard way, ibrox and their cheerleaders will come to realise it with time HH
Very well put James. We can’t rely on the msm to highlight this blatant sectarianism as they have no interest in defending our corner. I wonder if there is a single avenue where we can highlight/complain to as one when there are such blatant examples that would have a noticeable impact.
briliant james….
Excellent once again in highlighting this James. I was at Kilmarnock with my wife a couple of seasons ago and after the game, as we walked around the ground a man in his 60’s shouted at us ‘ F off back to Ireland ya couple of fenian B’s.’ My wife was very upset but I was used to this garbage. Ironically both of our parents are from Donegal and Monaghan respectively. We’re used to F’ing off to Ireland on a regular basis!
Bravo, you have hit the nail on the head.
I communicated the exact same thing to Adrian Durham on TalkSport many years ago.
More power to your elbow.
Having done my DNA test it was great to know the outcome that I truly have inherited Celtic ancestry going back over a thousand years.
Legend has it that Celts even have alien inheritance, hence the reddish tinged hair, blue eyes and mystical powers going back to the days when both of our countries were a shared family; pre Norman Ireland known as Greater Scotia and Scotland as Little Scotia. Ultimately the huns sense of Scottish heritage blows apart when weknow that they’re Anglo Saxon/Norman immigrants and I for one wish they’d feck off back to their Templar Masonic homeland. I’m longing for a return to a Celtic Britain.HH
Fantastic piece James.My mother was from Carlow,and chose my first name .I’ve had “Eamonn ,did someone knock a Scrabble board over and your parents said ,just call him that?”,while rest of the canteen laughed .Same ones wouldn’t dare make the same remark about an Asian or eastern European name,or it would be P45 time.But hey it’s Irish so batter in.
McManus knows what’s required to keep his media jobs in Fair Caledonia. He has a nice bowl of hot soup before every article he writes.
During the troubles in the North of Ireland it was refreshing to see Channel 4’s coverage, much of it reflected the perspective of the Catholic population that were victims of the oppressive murdering British soldiers that often supported the unionist terrorists through the supply of weapons.
I’ve never really seen this same perspective on British TV of the bigotry in Scottish society.
It would surely make for a very interesting investigatory documentary.
It always amazes me that idiocy, flawed logic and hatred can be passed down through generations so easily. It’s like the 2 minute hate in Orwell’s 1984, whether these peepul really believe it or just act fervent to fit in is another question.
Celtic fans getting tarred with the same brush is really annoying, it’s only ‘old firm fans’ when they misbehave but it’s ’Celtic fans’ when it’s us.
Any other religion and there would be no place to hide, but it’s open season and always has been to deride Catholics without fear or reprisal.
All media conveniently ignore this ignorant bile , pathetic.
Great article James and dead on, as we all know only too well. Not helped at all by the fact that our own club NEVER defend us either against this kind of abuse and finger pointing. Giving the MSM hacks free reign to say whatever they like about us. Wit chance ye got?
They never have and they never will James…
Compare and contrast the Sevco board to our bloody spineless one –
While we all detest Sevco and what they stand for in life – I simply cannot but grudgingly admire just how very good that they are at sticking up for their gruesome support…
But our lot – Oh dear, Oh dear, Oh dear !
If we changed our religion to following Muhammad can you imagine the outcry. Having worked in both glasgow and edinburgh, I was unprepared for the hidden deep seated bigotry I encountered in the capital. At least in the west it was more open
Still not acceptable.
It’s not just Edinburgh and Glasgow David but in pockets in The North as well and probably in The South of Scotland as well….
It’s also bad enough in The Scottish Western Islands as well as having drank in some pubs in Tiree, Mull and Islay it slyly came into conversation there as well –
They seemed nice enough folks (I wouldn’t go as far as labelling them ‘peepil’ – However it was there when these Island treble whisky’s started going down as the night wore on)…
They seemed nice enough folks in many many ways – open doors for parties etc etc, don’t be stuck – crash on the couch etc etc – but still nice enough ‘bigots’ if ya get the drift etc !
Class statement