Scottish prosecution over 'up the RA' chant raises questions for Northern Ireland police and the PPS - Poots

The man was arrested when the flight landed. Police Scotland previously said they were investigating “sectarian abuse” directed at the former DUP leader.

Mark Gallogly 35 from the Glen Road in Drumquin outside Omagh, pleaded guilty to a breach of the peace with an aggravation by religious prejudice on December 10 2022. He was fined £850 with a £40 victim surcharge, to be paid at £50 per month.

The ‘up the RA’ chant is frequently used on social media – often among young people not old enough to remember the atrocities carried out by the Provisional IRA.

Mr Poots told the News Letter he is asking the PSNI chief constable and the PPS if they have taken similar action over reports of the offensive chant.

The South Belfast MLA said: “Will police now be looking at the Wolfe Tones concert in west Belfast? Why is it acceptable in this part of the United Kingdom to make these offensive chants? Particularly in a part of the country where two thousand people are dead because of the actions of the Provisional IRA. People think they can do this without consequence.”

The News Letter asked the PSNI and the PPS if they have prosecuted, successfully or otherwise, similar incidents in Northern Ireland – and whether either organisation considers the chanting of this phrase as a potential hate crime.

The PPS said: “We carefully consider each investigation file we receive from police in line with the PPS Code for Prosecutors. In every case we do so by independently and impartially assessing whether the evidence provides a reasonable prospect of conviction for any offence and, if so, whether prosecution is in the public interest. When this Test for Prosecution is met a case can proceed to court.

“Each case received by the PPS is considered in light of its particular facts and circumstances and the relevant criminal law and offences in Northern Ireland. The law in other jurisdictions will often be different and considerable care should be taken when seeking to compare outcomes in individual fact-sensitive cases arising across jurisdictions.

“Where we do receive an evidence file from police in relation to these types of incidents, it is considered carefully and where there is a reasonable prospect of conviction, the PPS will prosecute ... robustly.

“There is currently no specific offence of hate crime in Northern Ireland and alleged sectarian comments may fall for consideration under legislation, including that which creates public order offences.”

The IRA chant is part of a lyric in the Wolfe Tones song ‘Celtic Symphony’. The lyric references ‘graffiti on the wall’ which is followed by the phrase ‘Ooh ah up the 'RA’ repeated 12 times in a chorus.

There is an almost annual controversy as thousands take part in chanting the lyrics at the West Belfast festival.

Band member Brian Warfield has previously told the Irish Times that those who criticise the song are “cranks and unionists or people who side with them”.

The West Belfast Festival has argued in the past that the Wolfe Tones concert doesn’t receive public funding. However, the festival as a whole is a recipient of significant public funding from organisations such as Tourism NI and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.