Attempts to strip the Irishness from Celtic football club will only fuel
sectarianism in Scotland instead of defusing it, a new book claims.
Written by leading supporters of the club, the book claims that flying the
Irish tricolour at Parkhead is part of the legitimate tradition for fans.
Celtic Minded - a series of essays by Celtic fans - is the brainchild of
Stirling university sports studies lecturer Dr Joseph Bradley.
Lisbon Lion Tommy Gemmell, a Protestant, says the singing of traditional
Irish songs should be accepted as part of the club's history.
The composer James MacMillan, who caused a storm five years ago when he
claimed Scotland was rife with anti-Catholicism, 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",,
MacMillan says.
In recent times there have been calls for the removal of the Irish
tricolour from Parkhead and an end to singing songs like Fields of
Anthenry.
Bradley said: "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."
Former Rangers vice-chair Donald Findlay, who quit after being caught on
video singing The Sash said people had a right to their traditions - as
long as they were updated to remove offensive aspects.
"The fact that you stand up for something doesn't mean you are hostile to
another man's traditions and viewpoint," he said.
