Latest news with #IrishTricolour
Sunday World
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Billboard appears in support of Kneecap ahead of court appearance
Johnny Marr also weighed in on the group's Glastonbury set hitting out at idea of censorship Kneecap member Liam Og O hAnnaidh outside the 100 Club in Oxford Street, central London, last month. Pic: PA/PA Wire A billboard has appeared in London supporting the west Belfast band Kneecap, as one of its members prepares to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday on an alleged terror offence. The billboard was snapped in the Lambeth area of the city and shared by a number of users online, including Sinn Féin MP Chris Hazzard. The band's own account also shared the image of the billboard, which includes the phrase: 'More Blacks, More Dogs, More Irish, Mo Chara' set in the colours of the Irish Tricolour. The phrase included in the billboard appears to be a parody of the historical racist slogan seen across parts of England in the 1960s which included the phrase 'no blacks, no dogs, no Irish'. Mr Hazard shared an image of the billboard on his Facebook account, captioning the photo: 'Spotted in London.' It comes as Kneecap member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh prepares to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday on an alleged terror offence. The 27-year-old, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, has been charged over the alleged display of a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, in November last year. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content Meanwhile, a former guitarist from 1980s rock band The Smiths backed Kneecap amid calls for their set at the Glastonbury Festival to be censored. There had previously been calls for the controversial Irish language rap group's set at the famous festival to be cancelled amid a furore sparked by their pro-Palestine display at US festival Coachella in April. During the gig, the band – made up of Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh (Mo Chara), JJ Ó Dochartaigh (DJ Próvaí) and Naoise Ó Cairealláin (Moghlaí Bap) – led the crowd in chants of 'free, free Palestine'. A message reading: 'F**k Israel. Free Palestine' was also unveiled. The billboard in Lambeth News in 90 Seconds - June 17 Soon after the gig, footage emerged allegedly showing a band member calling for the deaths of MPs and shouting 'up Hamas, up Hezbollah'. The group subsequently apologised to the families of murdered MPs but said footage of the incident had been 'exploited and weaponised'. Posting a message on his social media channels, former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr said calls for Kneecap's Glastonbury set to be cancelled were not in keeping with the festival's 'free expression'. "After learning that calls have been made for Kneecap to be censored during their Glastonbury set, I think it's important that I make my own position clear,' he said. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content "I've played Glastonbury many times and the festival has always had a political aspect. "It was founded as a place of free expression and political activism and it's a fact that I agreed to play there with The Smiths in 1984 purely because to do so at the time was a political act. "We are living through very troubling times, but for anyone who's been interested in me or my music over the last 40 years, I feel like my political stance has always been very clear. "Oppression fears artistic expression. I respect all musicians who use their platform to speak out against injustice, who promote compassion and equality and give voice to the voiceless. "I stand with my audience and fellow musicians who call for an immediate end to the atrocities and a free Palestine.' Last week, the band announced details of the high-profile legal team that will represent Mo Chara over the alleged terror offence, referring to them as 'An Scothfhoireann – The Dream Team'. Kneecap member Liam Og O hAnnaidh outside the 100 Club in Oxford Street, central London, last month. Pic: PA/PA Wire Darragh Mackin of Phoenix Law heads up the team alongside Gareth Peirce of Binberg Peirce, who has previously defended the Birmingham Six and the Guilford Four, as well as appearing for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The team also includes Brenda Campbell KC, who represented the families of the Hillsborough Stadium disaster, and freedom of expression expert Jude Bunting KC. Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh, who appeared before the International Court of Justice on behalf of South Africa against Israel in relation to the genocide in Gaza, is also in the ranks, with free speech, national security and crime expert Rosalyn Comyn completing the line-up. In an Instagram post the group added: 'The British establishment is conducting a campaign against Kneecap which is to be fought in Westminster Magistrates Court. "We are ready for this fight. We are proud to have such a strong legal team with us.'
Irish Times
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Pope Francis lies in state: Not even the nuns are exempt from security as queues line streets around St Peter's Basilica
When in Roma. Four priests were walking along the crowded Via Dei Corridor, off St Peter's Square, as people were being marshalled along by stern police, including a group of carabinieri standing in front of four beautiful black horses. One priest stopped to admire the horses, patting one on the nose, while a second filmed him on his phone and their colleagues laugh. Then, they decided to bless the horses, and everyone paused. Even the carabinieri smiled and across the street, an Irish Tricolour remained unmoved. It could be the heat. Temperatures rise to the mid-20s in Rome these days, which can be a shock for anyone arriving suddenly from Ireland and the recent Arctic April temperatures. Security is such that no one – not even nuns – is exempt. All bags are searched, even that belonging to sister, who just might be bringing in a weapon. READ MORE At a queue ahead, some appear to be suffering barely suppressed despair. It is outside the Vatican's Halla Stampa press office, upon which the world's media has descended with as much warning as a murmuration of starlings at Lough Owel in Westmeath. As to how many journalists, a young priest helping there offered ' ... thousands and thousands'. The media are among the few in Rome so far for the funeral of Pope Francis . Almost everyone else was in the city for other reasons. Then, came the news that the pontiff had died. Francis Meehan, from Monaghan town, waited four hours to see the pope's remains on Wednesday. He had originally come to Rome for the canonisation of Blessed Carlo Acutis next Sunday, which has now been postponed. 'It was on the plane the Pope's death was announced.' Francis, he said, 'was amazing. He turned the church upside down and it needed it. His simple living, his message, his care of people, his reaching out to all the marginalised.' [ When Pope Francis met abuse survivors in Ireland: 'He drew a picture of a toilet. Anything that goes into that is caca' Opens in new window ] Every December, he used to send Pope Francis a birthday card and a Christmas card. 'Four times he wrote back to me during his papacy,' says Meehan, who is staying for the funeral. Meanwhile, tens of thousands queued the length of St Peter's Square and beyond as, inside the basilica itself, people waited quietly, all to one side of its vast space, the bright sun streaming through windows overhead. The body of Francis lay in red vestment with his coffin tilted slightly forward so he could be seen, as four Swiss guards stood to attention near its corners. People knelt briefly at a rail in front to say hasty prayers before being ushered along to make way for more. Phones were much in evidence but there was little of the jostling that can mar such occasions.
