Yes some Celtic fans do sing IRA songs and I do wish they wouldn't.
However in the sixties before the atrocities of the IRA there was a group called the Clancy Brothers who were very popular and sang these songs which are actually political, not sectarian.
Celtic Football club have always had Protestant players, managers and staff.
It is only recently that Rangers have loosened their sectarian policy of never signing any Catholic, either as players, managers or indeed staff.
Can I just add that although Sectarianism exists, especially among football fans, there are an increasingly number of interfaith services and meetings.
I'm told that Rangers knocked back the opportunity to sign Danny McGrain because of the Catholic sounding name.
LOL big mistake on two counts if true ...
The man became a legend ... and was also a protestant.
Things have been taking place for many years regarding the efforts of the two West Coast football clubs (along with others) and things are in the main much more civilised than it ever was.
Without being complacent I think the football clubs and charities such as 'Nil by Mouth' have had a tremendous presence in helping helping change. So it isn't all doom and gloom.
Nude Old Firm fans tackle bigotry
Sunday, 23 September 2007
Old Firm fans strip off About 100 naked Old Firm fans have joined together to pose for a photograph at Hampden Park.
Alistair Devine said the image would show how far Scottish football has come in tackling sectarian violence.
In 1980, the photographer captured a famous scene of riots at an Old Firm Game at Hampden, with police on horses trying to halt fighting on the pitch.
The Rangers and Celtic supporters, both male and female, posed with just their scarves to cover their modesty.
Mr Devine, who a year ago organised a similar project where he photographed 30 nude volunteers in a Glasgow bar, said he hoped the image would show the unity between the fans.
"The point of the picture is quite simple," he said. "It is to let bigots be bygones and to move forward as a nation in our view towards bigotry.
"Back in the 1980s our game here was absolutely rife with bigotry and dreadful violence.
"We have moved on a long way. If we had tried this 25 years ago we would never had got it."
Mr Devine said the fans who had turned up for the photo were very brave.
He added that efforts by Scotland's churches, government, football clubs and the campaign group Nil by Mouth had helped to tackle sectarian violence in football.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7009122.stm
