Another Irish band in trouble over Palestine

A string of bands pulled out of Portsmouth’s Victorious music festival on Saturday, hours before they were to perform after Irish folk music band The Mary Wallopers claimed they were “cut off” for displaying a Palestinian flag.

The news comes as controversial west Belfast band Kneecap are continuing to suffer both adulation and condemnation after similar controversy.

Kneecap’s ongoing tour of Europe faces a three-year ban by Hungary, a string of cancelled concerts in Germany and Austria, and intense scrutiny by French authorities.

Member Liam Og O hAnnaidh, 27, whose stage name is Mo Chara, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court last Wednesday charged with displaying a flag in support of terror group Hezbollah at a London gig in November.

His defence team argued that the case should be thrown out for technical reasons, with a ruling due on September 26.

At the Coachella music festival in California in April, Kneecap made international headlines when they accused Israel of carrying out genocide in Gaza.

Footage was then uncovered of onstage statements from their 2023 UK tour, including ‘Up Hamas, up Hezbollah’ and ‘The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP’. The band then apologised to the families of two murdered British MPs and insisted that they have never supported Hamas or Hezbollah.

In Portsmouth on Saturday, the bands The Last Dinner Party, Cliffords and The Academic announced that they would no longer be performing at the festival following Friday's incident.

The organisers, who claimed the band had their set cut short for using a “discriminatory” chant, have since issued an apology to the band and pledged to make “a substantial donation to humanitarian relief efforts for the Palestinian people”.

Following The Mary Wallopers' set, a spokesperson for Victorious said they had been warned before performing not to display any flags.

“We spoke to the artist before the performance regarding the festival's long-standing policy of not allowing flags of any kind at the event, but that we respect their right to express their views during the show,” they said.

“Although a flag was displayed on stage contrary to our policy, and this was raised with the artist's crew, the show was not ended at this point, and it was the artist's decision to stop the song.”

In response, The Mary Wallopers claimed the festival had released a “misleading statement to the press claiming they cut our sound because of a discriminatory chant, and not the band's call to Free Palestine.

“Our video clearly shows a Victorious crew member coming on stage, interfering with our show, removing the flag from the stage and then the sound being cut following a chant of 'Free Palestine,'” they said.

“The same crew member is later heard in the video saying 'you aren't playing until the flag is removed'.”

As the bands announced they would no longer perform at the festival, the organisers issued another statement. “The Mary Wallopers are a fantastic band and we were very much looking forward to their performance at Victorious on Friday,” it said.

“We didn't handle the explanation of our policies sensitively or far enough in advance to allow a sensible conclusion to be reached.

“This put the band and our own team in a difficult situation which never should have arisen. We would like to sincerely apologise to all concerned.

“We absolutely support the right of artists to freely express their views from the stage, within the law and the inclusive nature of the event. Our policy of not allowing flags of any kind, which has been in place for many years for wider event management and safety reasons, is not meant to compromise that right.

“We accept that, although mics remained live for longer, sound for The Mary Wallopers' audience was cut as described in the band's video and that comments after that were not audible to the public.

“We are sorry that this situation has come about and will be making a substantial donation to humanitarian relief efforts for the Palestinian people.”​