Will mainstream media report on sectarian singing by British troops?

[ian1964 10,416]

THE Army has launched an investigation into allegations that members of the Armed Forces were involved in sectarian singing at a Rangers match at the weekend.

 

The scenes at the Ibrox club’s home game against Stenhousemuir have been the subject of controversy on social networking sites, amid claims personnel were involved in sectarian behaviour.

 

Around 400 members of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army, and Royal Air Force were in attendance at the game, an occasion set up by the club to celebrate the country’s Armed Forces.

 

However, concern has been raised following footage which has circulated on YouTube, prompting allegations that some of those representing the services were party to sectarian chanting.

 

The Army confirmed today that it was aware of a number of complaints, and had launched a probe into the issue.

 

In a statement, it said: “We are aware of a number of complaints of against members of the Armed Forces at the Armed Forces Day match at Ibrox stadium at the weekend.

 

“The Army and Police Scotland, assisted by Rangers football club, are investigating these complaints. Sectarianism is a breach of the Army’s strict values and standards. If any personnel are found to have fallen short of these values and standards they will be dealt with by administrative or disciplinary action by the chain of command and, if necessary, by the police.”

 

Chief Superintendent Andy Bates of Police Scotland also confirmed the force had been made aware of the allegations, and was investigating.

 

He said: “We are aware of concerns raised regarding the conduct of a number of people attending the Rangers v Stenhousemuir game at Ibrox on Saturday. These concerns are being investigated.”

 

Rangers said it too was aware of complaints made about the half-time event, but could not comment further on the allegations given the police investigation.

 

However, the club pointed out that the day was designed to “honour” members of the Armed Forces.

 

In a statement, it said: “Rangers Football Club and the Rangers Charity Foundation were proud to welcome over 400 personnel from the Armed Forces to Ibrox stadium on Saturday.

 

“The club has always been fully committed to honouring those who sacrifice so much for their country and we were delighted to invite members of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army and Royal Air Force to the match. The event was organised in conjunction with senior personnel from each branch of the Armed Forces who were also represented in the Directors Box.

 

“The club are aware of complaints regarding the conduct of Armed Forces personnel on the pitch at half time and understand that Police Scotland are investigating the circumstances therefore it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”

[SteveC 150]

Greenslag is a IRA supporting scumbag, he probably celebrated when the IRA were bombing London.

 

More than likely going by this:

An extraordinary item appeared last Tuesday on Professor Roy Greenslade's MediaGuardian blog. It was a harsh attack on his colleague Henry McDonald, the long-serving Ireland correspondent of The Observer and The Guardian. The Prof noted that the previous Friday a story by Mr McDonald had appeared in The Guardian wrongly attributing a Belfast murder the night before to "Republican paramilitaries".

 

Mr Greenslade was right that in the heat of the moment Mr McDonald had got his facts wrong, apparently relying on incorrect information from Republican dissidents. A man and a woman with no paramilitary connections were later charged. Yet it seemed odd that the Prof should have launched a public attack on a colleague for a pardonable mistake. Mr Greenslade, who has long-standing links with Sinn Fein, evidently resented the imputation of Republican involvement.

 

Before writing his piece he did not contact his colleague. Nor did he do so last August when he wrote a blog criticising British newspapers, including Mr McDonald's, for not covering the annual Sinn Fein conference during which a Presbyterian minister and former British Army chaplain, the Reverend David Latimer, called Martin McGuinness one of the "true great leaders of modern times". Had the Prof spoken with Mr McDonald, he would have learnt that he had intended to attend the conference but did not do so because his mother was dying.

 

Few people are aware that The Guardian's media sage has affiliations with Sinn Fein. During the late 1980s, when he was managing news editor of The Sunday Times, he secretly wrote for An Phoblacht, the Sinn Fein newspaper, which then served as a propaganda sheet for the Provisional IRA. His pseudonym was George King. We know this from Flat Earth News by Nick Davies, a Guardian colleague and instigator of the journalistic investigation into phone hacking. When Mr Greenslade reviewed Mr Davies's book on his blog in 2008, he did not deny what some may regard as a pretty serious allegation. In a more recent blog, he described Mr Davies as his friend.

 

The connections endure. Last June, Mr Greenslade spoke at a Sinn Fein conference in London on the 30th anniversary of the hunger strikes, and he wrote an article on the same subject for An Phoblacht . He has had a house in County Donegal for many years. One friend is Pat Doherty, from 1988 until 2009 vice president of Sinn Fein, who has been named as a former member of the IRA Army Council.

 

Given his sympathies, it is fair to surmise that Mr Greenslade dislikes Mr McDonald's articles about Sinn Fein's links to organised crime, and saw his recent piece as an attempt to blacken the organisation. Mr McDonald is certainly no friend to Sinn Fein but, equally, he has received Loyalist death threats, and his house in Belfast has been fortified against Loyalist attacks. (By the way, I have never met him.) I'd say he was a brave and honest reporter who, unlike Mr Greenslade, is not parti pris.

 

May I suggest that when he next writes about Northern Ireland Mr Greenslade should be open about his allegiances? And also that he should talk to colleagues before attacking them? Both are considered good journalistic practice, and he is, after all, Professor of Journalism at City University, where there must be impressionable students who look up to him. Roy Greenslade would do well to ponder on what, one way and another, is a bit of an ethical tangle.

 

 

from:

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/opinion/stephen-glover/stephen-glover-the-troubles-are-still-raging-for-the-guardians-media-pundit-7561788.html

[simplythebest 0]

Toxic Jack will be helping our enemies with this one because this is the perfect storm to create a diversion from our protests and the despicable actions of our incompetent and dysfunctional boardroom.

 

Come on, not everything has to go back to boardroom issues.

 

This kind of thing is just typical of the anti-Rangers agenda and has been happening for years.

[Super Cooper 0]

Alex Thomson is pure poison. Why do we not have any support in media circles? At levels of government? Who is speaking on our behalf? Who is defending us?

[craig 5,199]

Sad day when we allow protests and marches for ethnic groups (some of their ethnicity have been responsible for the killing of our troops and innocent civilians) yet a celebratory day for our own forces, who put their own lives on the line for our safety, security and lives, is turned into a "big, bad sectarian Rangers" crusade.

 

Fuck them all. It is sheer lunacy back home these days. There should have been congratulations for Rangers bringing 400 of our hard-working servicemen to the game.... yet the club is being vilified from all quarters. Ridiculous.

 

I say it again, Fuck them all.

 

I am glad I am not back home to be honest, the closed-mindedness of so many is utterly depressing and is also disturbing.

[RANGERRAB 3,259]

We need a strong robust response from the club regards this. It should not be afraid to confront them from the east end(and others too) over their continual denials about their problems which are far greater than ours in my opinion. They have their placemen(and women) in the media and politics who continually gloss over their issues and turn the attention onto us. We need to be resolute over this

[TheTinMan99 0]

Why oh why do we leave ourselves open to this shite every year? They couldn't just parade around the pitch and leave respectfully. We all know it was just some harmless fun, but that's not how it looks to the outside world, and especially to people with agenda's.

[der Berliner 3,247]

Why oh why do we leave ourselves open to this shite every year? They couldn't just parade around the pitch and leave respectfully. We all know it was just some harmless fun, but that's not how it looks to the outside world, and especially to people with agenda's.

 

The always offended will find something else. Honestly, we are at Ibrox and celebrate the Forces Day. If someone finds this offensive, you'd have to ask why he's watching? Which brings us to the question: where did he watch it? Did he sign a RTV-subscription to be offended?

[Super_Ally 0]

Do the group on here who think we should just apologise and flog ourselves after any "incident" that the Oirsh, Celtic fans, media, politicians don't like? Or do they see my point now that we need to stand up to them and say "oh, you're offended? Tough luck. You are the bigots and your moral compass is knackered. Now fuck off".

 

Or shall we apologise again. Bend over and look for the next concession we can make?

[Chibmark 15]

I'm just pissed that once again, through the singing of rubbish songs that are dire, that WE have allowed some agenda driven hack to sidetrack our fans protest against our incompetent and corrupt board.

 

We can squeal and moan all we like, but until our fans stop singing rubbish non-Rangers songs then these hate-filled 'journalists' will always stoke the 'sectarian' flames to score virtual points on Twitter.

 

Our fans need to up their game severely if we are to win these battles.

 

Going to watch the Breaking Bad finale now so apologies if I don't reply tonight.