Kneecap gig on council-owned land 'is deeply concerning' says DUP council leader

That is according to Sarah Bunting, leader of the 14-strong DUP group on Belfast City Council, speaking ahead of the republican rap trio taking to the stage at Boucher Road Playing Fields tonight.

The Belfast group were supporting the Dublin-based band Fontaines DC in a sold-out gig for roughly 40,000 people.

One of its members Liam O'Hanna (stage name: Mo Chara) is currently contesting a charge in London of displaying the flag of Hezbollah, a proscribed Islamist terror organisation, during a gig in the city.

Kneecap have said they “do not and have never” supported Hezbollah.

It is just one of a litany of controversies involving the band, who have popularised the wearing of tricolour-coloured balaclavas (which they sell as merchandise) and who rely heavily on republican rhetoric (for instance they refer to the PSNI as "the RUC", despite the RUC having disbanded in 2001, and have unveiled a mural reading: "England get out of Ireland").

At their Glastonbury set during the summer, fellow band member Moglai Bap called on supporters to attend an upcoming court hearing for O'Hanna and "start a riot" – comments which he then backtracked on shortly afterwards.

Councillor Bunting noted that "this is a band repeatedly surrounded by controversy" adding: "Allowing such a performance in Belfast risks legitimising and normalising behaviour that should have no place in our society.

"Large-scale public events should be opportunities to promote respect, unity, and inclusivity."

Instead, the staging of the concert on council land "sends out entirely the wrong message particularly to young people who deserve to see music and culture used as a force for good, not as a platform for division".

Councillor Jim Rodgers of the UUP told the News Letter: "I've been very much opposed to them getting the go-ahead and it's disappointing that it's proceeding.

"This whole thing needs to be reviewed. We just can't allow these people to do their own thing and expect the vast majority of people to accept it, because the opposite is in fact the case: the ordinary man or woman in the street don't support or don't favour these things at all."

He said there were efforts by unionists to stop the gig proceeding, but they were outnumbered on the council.

In May, during a council meeting, DUP councillor Ruth Brooks had argued that the group’s behaviour was “a breach of the standards set” in the council’s agreement with the gig promoter, and put forward a motion condemning the group.

At the same meeting, councillor Bunting had said: “It’s not about green and orange – it’s about right and wrong, and whether we as a council have taken seriously our duty to protect the integrity and safety of our civic spaces.”

When it came down to a vote, 31 councillors voted against councillor Brooks’ motion, while only 26 voted for.

On a seperate occasion, UUP councillor Sonia Copeland had said that "from what I can understand we as councillors have no say really on who plays... it's up to the promoter".

She added that it shows they need to look at future arrangements with promoters "and what is expected of them when they bring different groups in to play on council property".