At last a statement that make's sense.
POSITION STATEMENT ON ââ?¬Ë?THE FAMINE SONGââ?¬â?¢ Friday, 03 October 2008 POSITION STATEMENT ON ââ?¬Ë?THE FAMINE SONGââ?¬â?¢, ACCUSATIONS OF ââ?¬Ë?RACISMââ?¬â?¢
AND DR JOHN REID�S SEPTEMBER 2008 LETTER TO THE CELTIC SUPPORT
BACKGROUND
The Board of the Rangers Supportersââ?¬â?¢ Trust believes that Celtic Chairman John Reidââ?¬â?¢s letter to his clubââ?¬â?¢s supporters in September 2008 referring to a four-line chant sung by Rangers fans (colloquially known as ââ?¬Ë?The Famine Songââ?¬â?¢) deserves a full and public response.
We view Dr Reidââ?¬â?¢s letter as the latest salvo in a campaign largely based on misinformation and driven by a sectarian political agenda. Ideally a response to this nonsense would come from the Chairman of Rangers Football Club, but in the absence of this the Rangers Supportersââ?¬â?¢ Trust has no hesitation in absolutely rejecting accusations of ââ?¬Ë?racismââ?¬â?¢ made by Reid and other prominent Celtic apologists.
RACISM
Most impartial observers understand that racism is what was aimed at England player Emile Heskey in Zagreb on 10 September. Or closer to home, the shameful racist abuse aimed at Mark Walters at Celtic Park on 2 January 1988. ââ?¬Ë?Racismââ?¬â?¢ is not a wind-up, however distasteful, aimed at Scottish Celtic fans and in rejecting these specious accusations the Trust restates our opposition to racism and sectarianism, which stands comparison to any other similar body:
The RST sponsors the Walter Tull Trophy, named in honour of the 1st black commissioned officer in the British Army and contested by Rangers and Spurs:
The Trust has close links with the local Asian Community and sponsors a number of season tickets which give local kids the chance to attend and support Rangers;
The Trust organised and hosted the 2007 ââ?¬Ë?Gers Prideââ?¬â?¢ Conference at Ibrox, involving high-profile speakers from Northern Ireland, Germany, academics and MPs in debate around positive aspects of identity and support;
The Trust was closely involved in the successful ââ?¬Ë?self-policingââ?¬â?¢ initiative and has consistently sought to engage Rangers in meaningful dialogue with the Rangers support about culture, identity, behaviour and tradition;
The sole external link on the RST website front page is for ââ?¬Ë?Show Racism The Red Card Scotlandââ?¬â?¢.
SCOTS-IRISH COMMUNITY ISSUES
Dr Reid is entirely wrong in stating that ââ?¬Ë?The Famine Songââ?¬â?¢ is ââ?¬Å?directed against the community of Irish descent in Scotlandââ?¬Â, if for no other reason than many of those Rangers fans who sing this song are themselves of Irish descent. That such an obviously fallacious statement is unchallenged exposes the sheer poverty of public debate on this issue. The Trust asserts that Dr Reid has no right to appoint himself as a spokesperson on behalf of Scots of Irish descent, or to speak for anyone except himself or the Football Club he works for.
Dr Reidââ?¬â?¢s statement; ââ?¬Å?the Famine is non-sectarian and millions of people who died or were forced into mass emigration were from all faiths and traditions within Irelandââ?¬Â alsocontradicts his own assertion that the Famine Song is ââ?¬Ë?racistââ?¬â?¢. If a song refers to a ââ?¬Ë?non-sectarianââ?¬â?¢ event which affected ââ?¬Ë?all faiths and traditionsââ?¬â?¢, how can it possibly be racist ââ?¬â?? or sectarian, for that matter?
The historical reality is that Scotland received relatively few immigrants from Ireland as a result of the Famine, the vast majority havingarrived before or long after.[1] Notwithstanding, Celtic FC choose to play two songs over the stadium PA on home match days referring to the Famine: ââ?¬Ë?The Fields of Athenryââ?¬â?¢ and ââ?¬Ë?Let the People Singââ?¬â?¢. The reasons for this are puzzling, but Dr Reidââ?¬â?¢s inflated rhetoric condemns a song which, far from being some sick ââ?¬Ë?celebrationââ?¬â?¢ of human tragedy is actually a mocking response to Celtic fans' tenuous, borderline obsessive, affiliations with the Republic of Ireland. As we demonstrate below, this is based predominantly on support for violent Irish Republicanism, the crudest anti-British rhetoric and a mentality rooted firmly in victimhood, regardless of the evidence. We believe such a position is no basis for making objective assessments about racism.
TACKLING SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
1) CELTIC FC
The Trust believes that Dr Reidââ?¬â?¢s efforts would be better spent putting his own house in order. We note with great interest his statement that he will ââ?¬Å?condemn, without equivocation, the use of any chants or songs which can be interpreted as support for religious or ethnic hatred, or for acts of violence.ââ?¬Â The Trust fully supports Dr Reid in this laudable aim and believes it would be helpful to detail the following.
Large sections of the Celtic support regularly indulge in vile chants celebrating the deaths of Rangers players such as Davie Cooper; laud the IRAââ?¬â?¢s sectarian murder gang with songs such as ââ?¬Ë?Boys Of The Old Brigadeââ?¬â?¢, ââ?¬Ë?Roll Of Honourââ?¬â?¢ and ââ?¬Ë?Sean South of Garryowenââ?¬â?¢; have Celtic Supporters Clubs named after IRA members such as Tom Williams; sing sectarian abuse at Rangers fans, employees and players, using phrases such as 'orange b*stards', 'huns' and 'animals'; celebrated the death of 66 innocent people in January 1971; sing ââ?¬Å?soon theyââ?¬â?¢ll be no Protestants at allââ?¬Â in their version of ââ?¬Ë?On The One Roadââ?¬â?¢; sing ââ?¬Å?and when the music stops, F*ck King Billy and John Knoxââ?¬Â and ââ?¬Å?Oh itââ?¬â?¢s great to be a Roman Catholicââ?¬Â in their version of ââ?¬Ë?Roaminââ?¬â?¢ In The Gloaminââ?¬â?¢; abuse members of the Royal Family; and sing that they hope a Roman Catholic Rangers player, Nacho Novo, is murdered in his bed by the IRA. These are not the actions of an inclusive organisation ââ?¬Ë?open to allââ?¬â?¢.
This behaviour would, in any normal society, be worthy of at least the same level of political comment and sustained media scrutiny as the song at issue. Despite the best efforts of Messrs. Reid, Lawwell and their cheerleaders, these are far from the actions of a small minority and the Rangers support wishes Dr Reid every success in taking the ââ?¬Å?stringent actionââ?¬Â needed to tackle this abhorrent behaviour.
2) RANGERS FC
We believe that if the Club had treated the original complaints about ââ?¬Ë?The Famine Songââ?¬â?¢ with the contempt they deserved, emanating as they did from the lunatic fringe of the Celtic support, ridiculous charges of ââ?¬Ë?racismââ?¬â?¢ would have evaporated. Dr Reidââ?¬â?¢s letter is not in our view about tackling problems of racism and sectarianism. It is a thinly-veiled attempt, supported by the usual suspects, to beat Rangers FC and Rangers fans with a convenient stick. Nor have Strathclyde Police or the Procurator Fiscal given any cogent reasons why this chant breaches legislation.
The Trust takes this opportunity to make a public appeal to both the Chairman and the Chief Executive of Rangers FC. It is regrettable that a week after the Chief Executive issued an eloquent written plea for supporters to stop singing ââ?¬Ë?The Famine Songââ?¬â?¢ at the home tie against Motherwell, the away support sang the song loudly and frequently at Easter Road. Our view is that this is yet more evidence of the absence of meaningful relationships between the Clubââ?¬â?¢s senior leadership and the wider support, and the Trust repeats the offer it has made many times in private, to help build and develop such a relationship, essential if Club and support are to move forward together.
We firmly believe for all those who love Rangers that self-regulation, an engagement based on shared values, around an inclusive common identity celebrating the best of our traditions and built on mutual respect, represents the only viable way forward. The sooner we start to identify that common ground and move together, the better for all parts of the Rangers family.
(1) Brenda Collins in 'Irish Immigrants And Scottish Society' states that between the 1851 and 1871 census years, the number of Irish-born Scots remained virtually static at around 207,000.
In the period 1876 to 1921, she states that some 94,000 Irish immigrants came to Scotland, with a considerable number from Ulster. In Graham Walker's book, 'Intimate Strangers', the 1931 Scottish census showed that the total number of Irish-born was then 124,296, 2.5% of the total population, with 55% of these born in what was now Northern Ireland. Immigration to Scotland during and following the First World War was heavily from the Republic.
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