Republican flute band with IRA link 'not part of official Fleadh'
A republican flute band named after Troubles-era IRA youth members was not part of the official all-Ireland Fleadh and gave a spontaneous performance in the festival’s pedestrian zone, officials have said.
Video circulating on social media appears to show the Jim O’Neill and Robert Allsopp Memorial Flute Band playing among crowds on Belfast’s Royal Avenue.
Based in the heavily republican New Lodge area, the outfit is named after teenage members of the IRA’s youth wing who died in the 1970s – one while involved in an arson attack on a furniture store, the other killed by an accidental discharge of a weapon at home.
This afternoon Belfast City Council officials didn’t offer a full comment on the incident, but briefed that the band gave an impromptu performance that hadn’t been booked as part of the official festival programme.
They did, however, reissue a statement from the previous day reacting to a video of a food van playing a song with the lyrics ‘up the Ra’ – for which the vendor apologised, saying it was mistakenly done from a public playlist.
Reinforcing the festival is “a welcoming and inclusive event for everyone”, the statement from officials reads: “This incident does not reflect the ethos of the Fleadh, and we do not support any behaviour or music which could cause offence or intimidation.”
It came after TUV councillor Ron McDowell demanded festival organisers condemn the flute outfit.
“This is no mere cultural band but one explicitly linked to terrorism,” he said, adding that opposition to the all-Ireland Fleadh’s planned return next year may be “a little more disruptive” unless concerns of unionists are addressed.