Does'nt offend me because i'm not Irish but telling any ethnic group to return to the country of their origin is "racist". If Rangers sang songs suggesting all the Poles/Pakistanis/Indians should go home then that too would be racist. It's as simple as that.
Race can be defined as a group of people having a shared culture or shared ethnicity , and it has already been established that the Famine song is Racist, that's why it's banned. Are the Poles/Pakistanis a Race?
The words of the song, taken out of context of being a football song, and sole reason is to "Wind Up" rival fans - are "The Famine is over, why don't you go home?" So, if you were to take it literally, it's a question. "Why don't you go home?" Rangers fans are not telling anyone to go home, on the other hand, Celtic fans singing "go home ya huns" is telling people to go home, and it offends me. Isn't it pathetic?
Is Hun sectarian? Racist? Do tell. Is it against the law to sing "go home ya Huns"? Nope. Is it against the Law to sinf the Famine Song? Yes. You do the maths.
I believe Hun has been proven as having sectarian undertones, does it offend me? No, I have testicles. Is it illegal to sing the Famine song, probably, but only after Celtic were beaten did the offended become offended. Which is really pathetic.
You two are drowning http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/2045303/Famine-singers-two-year-Euro-ban.html He was found guilty of religious and racially aggravated breach of the peace. John Nielson, Strathclyde Police assistant chief constable, said sectarian behaviour at matches "will not be tolerated".
You are 'racist' towards Rangers fan though, care to explain why you deem this ok? Please educate me, I'm a litel fick? <oK>
i was going to comment on how idiotic some of your posts on here were but this one takes the biscuit Well dont Girvan i think in this one thread you've managed to show just how stupid you truely are
Read and digest Girvan THE lyrics of the controversial Famine Song are racist, a court said yesterday after a football fan challenged his conviction. The Justiciary Appeal Court in Edinburgh ruled the song was in a different league from Flower of Scotland or God Save the Queen, and that Rangers supporter William Walls, who sang it, was rightly convicted of a racially-aggravated breach of the peace. Walls, 20, of Glasgow, had been arrested at a Kilmarnock-Rangers game in November last year, after stewards employed by the Ibrox club became concerned at the effect his behaviour might have on other supporters. He was shouting "Fenian b*****ds" and "f*** the Pope", and repeatedly sang a line from the Famine Song, "the famine's over, why don't you go home". The song is banned by Rangers. A sheriff ruled Walls had committed a racially and religiously-aggravated breach of the peace, and put him on probation for 18 months and banned him from football matches for two years. At the Justiciary Appeal Court, Donald Findlay, QC, for Walls, argued that the Famine Song was not racist, particularly the refrain sung by the accused. He said it was an expression of political opinion, permitted by the right to freedom of speech enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights. Mr Findlay submitted that the refrain was no more racist than some of the lines of Flower of Scotland, which bid King Edward to return to England to think again, or God Save the Queen, which refer to crushing rebellious Scots. He said the reference to "Fenians" was also political, and was about the Fenian Brotherhood, a political society set up in America in the 1850s to bring about the independence of Ireland. Mr Findlay contended that, if the references were seen in their proper context, Walls's conduct could not amount to a breach of the peace. An exchange of abuse between supporters was part and parcel of going to a football game, he said. Giving the court's judgment, Lord Carloway said: "The court has no doubt that (Walls's] conduct did amount to a breach of the peace, even in the context of a football match. Presence inside a football stadium does not give a spectator a free hand to behave as he pleases. There are limits and the appellant's conduct went well beyond those limits." Lord Carloway, sitting with Alastair Dunlop, QC, and Brian Lockhart, said the court did not accept that Walls had been referring to the American brotherhood. It was within judicial knowledge that the term "Fenian" was used by a certain section of the population to describe a person of Irish ancestry or a person of the Roman Catholic faith, whether of Irish ancestry or not. On the Famine Song, about the Irish potato famine of the 1840s, he said: "The song calls upon persons of Irish descent, who are living in Scotland, to go back to the land of their ancestors, namely Ireland. "They (lyrics] are racist in calling upon people native to Scotland to leave the country because of their racial origins. This is a sentiment which many persons will find offensive." http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/latestnews/Famine-Song-is-racist-not.5385303.jp Game over man, Game over.
The Famine is no more racist than Flower of Scotland. The English are the biggest minority group in the country, and they don't go all offended on us after a Scotland match, and I'd say that they need to put up with a lot more ****e than the Catholic community.
I'll answer your question on the Sherriff issue Girvan. No they dont set precedent as a rule.....however this case was appealed - and the decision of the Sherriff was upheld, thus setting a precedent, it could be apealed further and overturned - and my god i'd love to see Donald try Also this comment was the appeal judges interpretation of the famine song The song calls upon persons of Irish descent, who are living in Scotland, to go back to the land of their ancestors, namely Ireland. "They (lyrics] are racist in calling upon people native to Scotland to leave the country because of their racial origins. This is a sentiment which many persons will find offensive." YOur comments on the meaning of the song are those you have attempted to make up AFTER it was banned to try and deflect rather than just grow up and move on
"Your comments on the meaning of the song are those you have attempted to make up AFTER it was banned" No it wasn't. The words have always been the words. In football grounds, up and down the country, naughty expressions have been said for generations. Taken out of context, these phrases are deeply offensive, but within the sporting arena, have been generally been accepted as part of the banter that exists within the stadia. Aberdeen fans shag sheep. Edinburgh punters are all gay aids ridden junkies. And us Glaswegians have been known to eat rats as a treat, and we only have one shoe. Scousers are robbing Bastards. Spurs fans are all Jews. Rangers fans are all dirty orange bastards and Celtic fans are all Irish loving ****s. Does the singing of a song honestly offend you? If so, it's ****ing pathetic
