The Belfast rap trio who unveiled a controversial mural ahead of their appearance at the West Belfast Festival have said they “haven’t stopped laughing” since the fallout.

In an interview with the Guardian, Kneecap, who perform almost exclusively in Irish, said the mural depicting a burning police Land Rover with the message ‘The RUC aren’t welcome’ (in Irish) was just a “piece of art”.

They also said they have fans from all sides of the community in NI, adding that they attended the Twelfth celebrations on the Sandy Row and were well received.

Both UUP leader Doug Beattie and Alliance leader Naomi Long said the mural was “grooming” young people into sectarian hatred.

placeholder image — Irish language rap group Kneecap's mural of a burning police Land Rover on Hawthorn Street in Belfast. There have been calls for political leadership after a series of incidents across the weekend, including pro-IRA chants at a concert in west Belfast. Photo by Liam McBurney/PA

MCs Moglai Bap told the Guardian: “Anti-police sentiment has been longstanding in the hip-hop community. This isn’t new. We didn’t burn a police Land Rover, we painted one.

“Some people are more worried about a piece of art than the effigies of real politicians hanging off bonfires. We don’t want to be fighting or advocating violence. We want people to be thinking.”

Of the unveiling of the mural at Hawthorn Bar off the Falls Road, he said: “We left for Europe the day after it all kicked off. We haven’t stopped laughing.”

Of the band’s visit to Sandy Row on the Twelfth, he said: “All of a sudden I heard someone singing the hook to CEARTA in Irish. I turned around and suddenly there were like 14 young loyalists singing along. I ended up drinking Buckfast with them. That’s where we’re at. They like to make it out that we’re here to split people up but on the ground, it’s not like that. It’s working-class people that get our craic.”