Cearta diúltaithe

THE decision of the organisers of TRNSMT to cancel Kneecap’s appearance this summer was, in some way, not that surprising. Them buachaillí óga have certainly been making waves—to put it politely—and somebody, somewhere was going to do their level best to try to shut them up. Our own First Minister had already displayed the innate authoritarian, pro-establishment tendencies of his party in calling for them to be ‘axed’ from TRNSMT and many followed in his lead.

I would have thought that the First Minister of Scotland might have had more to concern him than a bunch of young Irish lads making legitimate comments about an ongoing genocide or, indeed, to interfere in the lawful decisions of a private sector company running events in Glasgow, but it would appear not—look a squirrel! I won’t bother to list the many things he might be legitimately concerned about in Scotland in 2025—you all know what they are—but the great irony (do we still have irony?) is that he, and his government, are actually responsible for most of them, or at least for fixing most of them.

Then along comes Scotland’s police service. Who would have thought it? This is an organisation whose current and previous Chief Constable both agree is institutionally racist. They don’t say that lightly—I mean you have to earn that kind of accolade—and so we can’t be surprised when the boys in blue take every opportunity to do just that.

The organisers of TRNSMT gave the following explanation for the decision. They said: “We want to be absolutely clear—this was based solely on Police Scotland’s very strong concerns around the potential for football-related disorder at the event were Kneecap to perform”

Hang on, ‘football-related disorder?’ I could be mistaken but I understand this event is taking place on July 11-13 I can confidently state that there won’t be any football taking place during that time. In fact, I have a very strong and clear memory of the final game of the 2024-25 season.

The statement goes on to talk about ‘longstanding religious tensions in the city.’ They are not talking here about the band’s hometown, but Glasgow. To be clear, they are saying that a band from Belfast can’t play in Glasgow because of ‘longstanding religious tensions in the city.’ I wonder if the Police Service of Scotland had thought of getting some advice from their colleagues in the Police Service of Northern Ireland about how they might handle that type of situation. I understand they have some useful experience they might have been willing to share.

The organisers go on to provide another clue to the real nature of this intervention: “Unfortunately, the police’s opinion is that with Kneecap being so closely aligned with ‘one side’ ...they would not be able to safely police the event if the band were to perform.”

There you have it, citizens of Scotland, the upholders of the law of this country, are admitting to not being able to ‘safely’ police a music festival because one of the bands is aligned with ‘one side.’ Who is this side with whom they are ‘aligned’ and to whom the officers refer? I know you already know this but let’s spell it out anyway. They mean aligned with us! They mean the Catholic/Irish Catholic/possibly Republican/probably Nationalist /maybe Celtic-supporting citizens of Scotland. Well, us and every other normal human being that is not keen on the Israeli State murdering men, women and children on a daily basis!

I have no doubt that this is who they mean and that they felt quite comfortable in saying so. Moreover, they also fully expected the general public to say ‘oh aye, I see what you mean’ and judging by some of the ‘commentary’ since, they are probably right. That is what institutional racism means—they don’t even actually realise that what they are doing is racism! But here it is, displayed in all its revolting glory.

The horrible and not surprising truth of the matter is that the Police Service of Scotland are so mindful of the sensibilities of our resident bigots, the members and supporters of the Loyal Orders, many of whom will be parading their hatred of Catholics unimpeded in the North of Ireland that weekend, that they are willing to tell a music festival who they can book. Do they really expect us to believe that they believe that the ones without the fare to Belfast will rise up in such numbers that they are prepared to admit to being incapable of protecting concert goers?

No, this is a clear and deliberate expression of who they are as an institution and they had the backing of the First Minister to do it.

I can’t end without noting that this intervention by the Police Service of Scotland is a clear attack on the right of all of us to condemn the genocidal actions of the Israeli State. Kneecap are not backwards at coming forwards in speaking out against the genocidal actions of the Israeli state. Neither are they alone in holding that view—in fact they are in the global majority. However, all the other bands, singers, musicians, artists and so on who agree with them are, fortunately for them, not also a bunch of Fenians and Gaeoilgorí. A perfect storm in 2025 Scotland—or any other year of your choosing.

Shocked? I am sure many people around the world are but I doubt any of the readers of The Irish Voice are—we have always lived with it.