Add me to your pain! They mean f**k all to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by boysingreen
Printable View
Add me to your pain! They mean f**k all to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by boysingreen
To not follow or care is one thing, to hate the club and its supporters is another. Granted, we're talking of a very small contigent of people in the world, a few in Ireland.
Celtic has been a club under siege since its foundation. The notion of ill-feeling emanating from the very land it has championed since its founding, to nothing but grief, is disturbing.
Consider:
http://news.scotsman.com/glasgow.cfm?id=465502004
(The title of the article is mis-leading, unless you read the article itself)
Quote:
Celtic fans sing the praises of sectarian anthems
JEREMY WATSON
SECTARIANISM has been widely condemned as a cancer in Scottish society that has divided communities and cost lives for generations. The nation’s leading football clubs, Rangers and Celtic, often stand accused of being magnets for bigotry.
But a new book written by leading Celtic supporters controversially hits back this week, claiming that sectarian tensions have been fuelled, rather than defused, by attempts to strip the club and its fans of their Irish roots.
A series of hard-hitting essays argues that Celtic and its traditions, including flying the Irish tricolour at matches, are a legitimate focus for the large Irish immigrant community that settled in the Glasgow area in the 19th century.
A central theme of Celtic Minded is that attempts to crack down on the club’s alleged sectarian symbols have served only to polarise communities and stoke religiously motivated violence.
One of the contributors is Tommy Gemmell, a highly regarded former Celtic full-back who, despite his Protestant background, says the singing of traditional Irish songs by fans should be accepted as part of the club’s history.
Composer James MacMillan, who caused a storm five years ago when he claimed Scotland was rife with anti-Catholicism, now asks if there was a "sexual element" to the anti-Catholic bullying he endured during his 1960s childhood in the Ayrshire town of Cumnock.
"We were the ‘feminine’ and ‘weaker’ religion after all," MacMillan writes. "All that Virgin Mary worship and imagine allowing yourself to be belted by ‘Penguins’ (the Cumnock word for nuns). And we were the perennial losers from the Battle of the Boyne to the various battles of Ibrox (up to circa 1966)."
The prevailing mentality was that "these ‘rogerings’ were deserved, and the administration of them thoroughly deserved," MacMillan adds.
Celtic Minded has been compiled by Dr Joseph Bradley, a lecturer in sports studies at the University of Stirling and the author of several books on sport and religion in Scotland.
Bradley said what came across strongly was that anti-Irishness and a related anti-Catholicism, although declining, had been part of the Scottish scene for more than a century.
"There are people living in Scotland who consider their Irishness to be primary," he said. "They feel that their community has not been recognised and that is why Celtic has become so important.
"That community founded Celtic. They will always express themselves through that and will continue to do so. Celtic is an Irish club in Scotland but it and its fans have attracted a lot of opprobrium because of that."
The book charts the animosity towards the flying of the tricolour that persists to this day. In 1952, after spectator trouble involving Catholic and Rangers fans, the Scottish Football Association tried to ban flags that were construed to have nothing to do with Scotland.
But the SFA lacked the means to enforce its demand and the attempt petered out. The Irish flag remains flying at Celtic Park and among the club’s supporters, most prominently at last year’s UEFA cup final in Spain. Bradley believes trying to ban traditional symbols of Irishness only serves to fuel sectarian tensions.
"They see themselves as a community partly under siege and in continual conflict because of the dilution of their identity," he said. "The idea of trying to get these people to conform to a view of Scottishness that suits the majority is not the way forward. A degree of loyalty has to be given to the state that people live in but there are other cultural things that matter on a daily basis.
"You should be able to express your primary identity. When we see people flying the tricolour or the Union Jack we shouldn’t get it out of proportion. Rangers and its supporters also have every right to assert their British identity."
Bradley said he "loathed" sectarianism.
"This book is a statement against sectarianism and I hope it will make some headway against this phenomenon in Scotland."
Willy Maley, professor of English literature at Glasgow University and another contributor to the book, agreed that past anti-Catholic and anti-Irish attitudes in Scotland had fuelled sectarianism.
"If you back people into a corner and take away their symbols of identity it polarises opinion and makes sectarian violence more probable," he said. "If you try to ban something then everyone wants it. It breeds monsters. Recognising those symbols as legitimate should reduce tensions."
One man who has been at the sharp end of the sectarian debate in Scotland is Donald Findlay, the Glasgow QC who stepped down as Rangers’ vice-chairman in 2000 after being caught on film singing ‘The Sash’, a song that commemorates a famous Protestant victory over Catholic forces in Ireland.
Findlay said in the past he had defended the right of Celtic fans to fly the tricolour as much as Rangers’ fans right to display the Union flag.
"If this book is advocating respect for everyone’s traditions then I would be in total agreement. There are both Catholic and Protestant songs that cause offence to the other side.
"So there is much to be said for saying to people have your traditions but update them and take out the most offensive aspects. The fact you stand up for something doesn’t mean you are hostile to another man’s traditions and viewpoint."
Stamping out sectarianism became a Scottish Executive goal after a series of murders and assaults involving Celtic and Rangers fans. Although the figures are disputed, one Glasgow University study recorded 11 deaths linked to sectarianism between 1984 and 2001.
Last year, a new law came into effect that for first time linked crimes with religious hatred. Between June and February this year, 260 people have been charged by police.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sylvo
Rangers have a Dublin supporters club with Irish people in it, so I think he'd get on fine :D
This is a prediction thread, and thats what he's done. Then you have people like boysingreen coming on and turning it into something else with his british newspaper stories on sectarianism. It's a PREDICTION thread for the match!!!
Attack the post and not the poster... right, here goes. Your post is an arsehole.Quote:
Originally Posted by Aldini98
Ahh, the famed Dublin Loyal RSC. Scots and Nordies to a man, I'm afraid. Pariahs to their fellow chimps for being from the Free State... :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Saints4Ever
http://members.lycos.co.uk/dublinrangers/main_drsc.htm
:ball: PP
Being not anti-Celtic at all myself, why would an Irishman be obligated to support Celtic ? I do hate some Belgian teams, and I don't like the national team even, am I trying to hide or betray my roots then in your opinion, BoysInGreen ?
Being proud of Irish roots doesn't mean you have to support everything that's Irish. I must be honest and say I was just slightly disappointed when I was in Glasgow and saw how Celtic had been commercialised. And like it or not, they are a Scottish team in the first place.
I have no problem with Irishmen supporting Rangers, despite that I prefer Celtic out of the Old Firm clubs. The same people who usually tend to say politics and religion should not interfere in sports are sometimes the same ones nagging on those who do not support Celtic.
And check this site for those who don't believe Rangers have fans in Ireland: http://members.lycos.co.uk/dublinrangers/ , it hasn't been updated since a while but still a good site.
And for the record: not trying to **** anyone off, just trying to see it all from a realistic neutral angle where some here seem to link the Old Firm to other things than sport...
Sorry, but there ARE people from Republic of Ireland in this supporters club. I've met quite a few of them in Glasgow when I went to see Hibs play in IbroxQuote:
Originally Posted by Plastic Paddy
Quote:
Originally Posted by Saints4Ever
There choice if they want support them, if they are happy it's up to them, i've checked out the Dublin Loyal website it's full of garbage about how Protestants are under siege in the Republic of Ireland and how the country still loves general Franco and old b@llocks like that. their meetings must be great craic.
He made a prediction but like yerself used it to try and wind up Celtic fans :rolleyes: , must be someone else with small team looking at a big team with envy.
Think I'll watch the Antiques Roadshow instead.
Great Irish lads to, I wonder if they know all these wordsQuote:
Originally Posted by Saints4Ever
Hello, hello we are the Billy Boys
Hello, Hello we are the Billy Boys
We,re up to our kness in Fenian blood
Surender or you die
We are the Bridgton Billy Boys.
...and to Billy Fulerton and his likes whether you are SF or hate them it never really seemed to matter, we are all Fenians.
I wonder if they join in with the threads on Follow, Follow that have the words 'I don't hate the Irish but...' or the ones that describe Irish people as being work shy spongers. I don't care whether you hate Celtic or not but to support Rangers with their steeped in anti Irish feeling...?
As for you Aldin, us 'plastic paddies' won't be shut up, so maybe you consider how you choose to phrase your posts in future as they are a sad reflection on yourself.
Finally I don't really care all that much how, for example, Kildare County get on this week, or for that matter how the balance of power in Merseyside is, so do you know what: I don't post on threads about these subjects maybe alot of people who only come on these threads to say how much you don't care about it or to troll for that matter should consider doing the same.
Oh by the way 2-0 to Celtic
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pat O' Banton
This thread is for a match prediction, boys in green decided to use it for something else.
Aldini gave a prediction, he done nothing different to everyonr else on this thread. But you ceptic fans have to keep bringing politics into it :mad:
And as far as Boysingreen saying it "pains" him to see irish people loathing ceptic, he obviously doesn't know ANYTHING about scottish football :confused:
S4E that is the prediction he gave, why the need for the added extras i.e. keep the plastic paddies quiet for a while. Maybe you should note that, that is when the thread took its desent into politics.Quote:
Originally Posted by Aldini98
By the way Saints I agree with you these threads should not turn into political discussions as we've gone over this a thousand times before.
Its pretty obvious that if I'd have said 2-0 to the Plastic Paddies that would have been fine but I think it more the fact that I had the complete audacity to predict a Rangers win and me been Irish to, I mean, I must support Celtic, that SCOTTISH club, THE "S" in SPL stands for SCOTTISH.Quote:
Originally Posted by Saints4Ever
...and people had a go at RedX on this thread for predicting a Rangers exactly where?Quote:
Originally Posted by Aldini98
You used the Plastic phrase in a derogratory way here i.e. keep the Plastic Paddies quiet for a while. Now if that is the best that you can do by way of justification for your comments I'd leave well alone.
Oh thanks for the geography lesson now we know where Glasgow is as many Irish had to emmigrate there. Now for extra points maybe you'd like to give us a history lesson on Irish emmigration cause if not I'm sure we can find some on here who will.
Can you get his mother one as well? The poor lad is only six. (Note to myself: Be careful. He might call me a 'peedofyle' or a 'fashis' :eek: )Quote:
Originally Posted by sylvo
Anyway, he's a Barstadolona fan :rolleyes: so he's bound to follow Rangers. They sorted out a special transfer deal a few years back, probably so the Barstados could find a dustbin to dump any crap Dutch rejects in.
Easy on the kid! You don't start studying emigration until you get to secondary school. How's he suppose to know? ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by FarBeag
Homework project for you tonight, Spelldini: What country is Barcelona in?Quote:
Originally Posted by Aldini98
EDIT: I'm locking this thread, because people have been warned time and again to leave the politics out of it. If you want to support Rangers, go ahead. If you want to support Celtic, go ahead. But as of now, I'm going to bin every thread on this issue which brings up non-football issues- its been done to death, and its utterly boring.
Éanna
If he wants to support rangers, he's perfectly entitled to do so. This is a football forum- not a celtic forum.Quote:
Originally Posted by FarBeag
\Quote:
Originally Posted by Éanna
Well said Eanna. If it was the other way around not a word would be said :rolleyes: