Ulster's ‘Godfather of Punk' joins growing support behind under-fire Kneecap

Sunday World

08-05-2025

'Be in no doubt, this is a well financed attack on Kneecap for showing support for Palestine.'
Ulster's 'Godfather of Punk' Terri Hooley is backing rap band Kneecap – saying they are being attacked because of their support of Palestine, the Sunday World can reveal.
Last Saturday, the veteran DJ and former Good Vibrations boss took time out from life-saving dialysis treatment to voice support for the west Belfast trio, who are facing a backlash over concert rants voicing support for Hamas and Hezbollah and one band member calling for MPs to be killed.
Hooley (76) is the latest showbiz personality to join a host of other big-name artists now rooting for the under-siege west Belfast rappers.
'It's clear the band is being targeted by the pro-Israel establishment. But be in no doubt, this backlash is happening simply because of Kneecap's support for Palestine,' Hooley told the Sunday World while on a break from dialysis at a Belfast hospital.
'I want people to stand back and look at this issue from a different perspective. Twenty thousand children have been killed in Gaza and no one is allowed to say anything, because it can be perceived as being anti-Jewish. That's nonsense.
Members of Kneecap including Mo Chara and Moglai Bap perform onstage during Coachella.
'I never thought too much about this issue before all this happened. But now more and more people are beginning to realise that what Kneecap is saying is right.'
Hooley also says it is obvious that the campaign directed against Kneecap is heavily orchestrated, manufactured and well-financed.
He said: 'I mean how many hours was spent finding the film footage now being viewed on every news channel? This is well-financed attack on these lads.
'But it's just a diversionary tactic and a distraction to take us away from what's going on in the real world. Children are being slaughtered in Gaza.
'And Kneecap is being targeted for highlighting this and causing people to think about it.'
Terri Hooley.
News in 90 seconds - 8th May 2025
He added: 'Anyone who has attended any of my shows will know I've said a lot worse than Kneecap about Tory politicians.'
This week Kneecap learned they had been removed from the bill of a number concert venues in England and pressure mounted for their appearance at Glastonbury to be axed.
DUP MP Carla Lockhart called on Kneecap to be denied entry to the US and fellow MP Sammy Wilson branded them the 'musical wing of Sinn Féin'.
A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he did not think 'individuals expressing those views should be receiving government funding', while Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said they should be prosecuted.
The backlash started when the band put up a banner saying during their gig at the famous Coachella festival in California saying 'F*** Israel'.
Counter-terror officers have been assessing the videos of the England gigs and the Metropolitan Police is considering whether to launch a full investigation into the group.
DJ Provai from Kneecap. Photo: VALERIE MACON / AFP
Kneecap later apologised directly to the families of two British MPs who were murdered, saying the comments were 'taken out of context' and that they opposed violence.
They said: 'Let us be unequivocal: We do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah.
'We condemn all attacks on civilians, always. It is never okay. We know this more than anyone, given our nation's history.
'To the Amess and Cox families, we send our heartfelt apologies, we never intended to cause you hurt.'
Belfast music legend Terri Hooley is Northern Ireland's most enduring music man. For decades he ran a record shop in Belfast before branching out in the mid-1970s to lead the non-sectarian punk revolution in the city.
But he is also credited with having the vision to recognise talent when he saw it. And he put his money where his mouth was when he signed up Derry band The Undertones to his Good Vibrations record label.
Teenage Kicks became a worldwide hit after it received the blessing of cult DJ John Peel, who said the single was so good he played it twice – back to back – on his weekly BBC radio broadcast, The John Peel Show.
But last Saturday, Henry Robinson – a founder member of the anti-paramilitary group Families Against Intimidation and Terror – said society should be clear that kneecapping is a cruel crime. The band say that they chose the name because they themselves might have been kneecapped for their behaviour during the Troubles.
A former member of the Official IRA who was jailed for shooting a man in the leg during a republican feud, he said he was appalled when he first heard the name Kneecap.
'I wondered why they called themselves 'Kneecap' and why one of the band wears an Irish tricolour balaclava?
'It's not funny. Kneecapping is mutilation of a human being and I went to jail because I did it. It was wrong.'
He added: 'Kneecap say its statements on stage were taken out of context. If that's true they should tell us why.'