Ireland Online 22/11/2007
A Celtic supporters' chief has refused to apologise for defending the singing of IRA songs.
University lecturer Jeanette Findlay, chair of the Celtic Trust, sparked fury when she said in a BBC interview that chants about terrorists had a historical basis.
Politicians and football supporters in Scotland and Ireland were quick to condemn her views.
But Dr Findlay refused to back down yesterday.
She told the Daily Record newspaper: "Why would I want to apologise? I made some relatively mild remarks on the radio and have no interest in co-operating with you.
"I am well aware of the effects that comments can have outside of football stadiums.
"In fact, I'm probably more aware than you are of the issues surrounding this subject."
She would not confirm whether she had been in contact with Celtic Trust members since the interview.
She said that the trust has its own channels of communication and that she would not be issuing any statement through the newspaper.
The row erupted after Dr Findlay spoke on BBC Radio 5 Live's breakfast programme on Tuesday.
She told the programme: "The club was founded to help the poor of the Irish immigrants to Scotland.
"Many of the supporters are descendants of these people.
"They may take a particular view of history, what happened in Ireland, which is different to many other people. So I don't call those pro-terrorist songs."
She said that the chants were "songs from a war of independence going back over a hundred years".
She made the comments on the day that the latest football anti-bigotry initiative was launched at Hampden Park.
The club has distanced itself from her comments, saying they were "totally unrepresentative of the Celtic support".
And the Scottish Government said her views were "repugnant".
Yesterday, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said he was opposed to the singing of such songs at football matches.
Speaking in Ballymena, Co Antrim, he said: "From what I know Scotland has been very - and a lot of its clubs have been very - forthcoming in trying to root out sectarianism."
"Any singing of those type of songs, I wouldn't encourage at all."
An umbrella group representing around 100 Celtic supporters clubs north and south of the Irish border also backed the condemnation.
The Association of Irish Celtic Supporters Clubs represents clubs based in each of Ireland's four provinces, and said it was opposed to sectarianism, while continuing to celebrate Celtic's Irish roots.
A spokesman said: "The Association of Irish Celtic Supporters Clubs have been engaged with Celtic and the Scottish Executive to eradicate sectarianism from Scottish football, and will continue to support this initiative."
East Derry Democratic Unionist MP Gregory Campbell urged new Celtic chairman John Reid to speak out against Ms Findlay.
Accepting the club had already said Ms Findlay did not speak for the bulk of fans, he said: "Hopefully John Reid can go further saying not only does this not represent the attitude of the club but that it is the antithesis of what the club thinks and stands for.
"These are the sort of comments that cause major problems in Northern Ireland where there are many Celtic supporters."
He said Ms Findlay should consider her position.
A spokesman for the Association of Celtic Supporters' Clubs declined to discuss Ms Findlay's remarks.
Ms Findlay is a lecturer in the Department of Economics at the University of Glasgow and co-director of the Glasgow University Football Research Centre.
The Celtic Trust is a supporters' trust and was established to represent the interests of small shareholders and supporters at Celtic.
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