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NEXT WEEK, MO Chara will make his second appearance in a British court to face a terror offence charge. Real name Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, he was charged in May for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag at a gig in London.
His Belfast band Kneecap rap in the Irish language and have been relentless critics of Israel’s military onslaught in Gaza. For the uninitiated among us, their lyrics explore unfair policing, mental health and stigmas around drug use in Irish society. Imagine if you put the NWA in a blender with anti-depressants, balaclavas, and the Gaeltacht.
Kneecap have had a string of live performances cancelled across Europe, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer calling on the Glastonbury festival to do the same. Though their festival appearance went ahead, the BBC chose not to air their set live.
Despite the mounting pressure on the trio, their live performances remain outrageous, fun, and heartfelt. I popped along to Finsbury Park in London to see them support Fontaines DC last month. The sea of GAA jerseys, sun-burnt necks and Palestinian flags was something to behold. It felt like every young Irish person living in London had turned up to cheer them on.
The group have connected with a generation of Irish people in a way that older people are struggling to understand. In contrast with the self-congratulatory activism of some multi-millionaire global artists, who showed deference to the elites who control the world’s supplies of money, housing, and food, Kneecap are instead outspoken in a way that feels authentic and grounded in the lived experiences of their fans. As recently as last year, Mo Chara and his bandmate Móglaí Bap were living in Bap’s grandmother’s house after their landlord evicted them.
Though the band may appear ghastly to some, their live shows should be viewed from the perspective of the so-called ‘ceasefire baby’ generation of Northern Ireland and the generational trauma that their music is responding to. Most of their fans were too young to remember the Troubles, or weren’t born at all. For them, cries of ‘Up the Ra!’ are less an endorsement of paramilitaries and more an ironic protest against the governments in Ireland and the UK, who have locked them out of housing and denied them meaningful social mobility.
This is the context in which Mo Chara’s alleged offence took place. In between songs like ‘Get Your Brits Out’ and ‘Your Sniffer Dogs Are Shite’ while the balaclava-clad DJ Próvai spun the decks. Anyone who booked a ticket to see a gangster rap group from Belfast called Kneecap and was offended by what they saw only has themselves to blame.
The great irony is that the people calling for the band to be cancelled are the same people who used to complain about cancel culture. The BBC found itself in the midst of another culture-war palaver in 2020 when it was leaked that songs like ‘Rule, Britannia!’ might be cut from the station’s ‘Last Night at the Proms’ broadcast. Anti-racism campaigners felt that these anthems glorified colonialism and the atrocities committed in the name of the British Empire.
Though the BBC ultimately decided that it would air the songs, the mere suggestion that it might not was met with days of consternation in the national press. The then Prime Minister Boris Johnson weighed in to say that the country had no reason to cringe over its history, and went as far as to lambast what he called ‘self-crimination and wetness’.
The Union Jack is a symbol of oppression, violence and starvation to communities in Ireland, Africa, India and beyond, but unfortunately, historical complexity is a privilege that the British extend only to themselves. Mo Chara’s crime then, perhaps, is not that he waved a flag that is offensive to many, but that he did so while being working-class, Irish and a pro-Palestinian.
And of course, we cannot look at Mo Chara’s run-in with the UK courts in isolation. These charges come at a time when UK police are heavily cracking down on any pro-Palestinian protests. Hundreds were arrested at recent protests in London, those in opposition to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, half of whom were over 60. Also among those taken away in handcuffs were a former government advisor and a former British army officer. Other musical artists, like Massive Attack, Damon Albarn and Fontaines DC have spoken out against the ongoing attacks on the Palestinians, with Brian Eno planning a fundraising gig next month.
If the police are serious about prosecuting anyone endorsing a terrorist organisation, they’ll need to take a look at some of the UVF and UDA marching bands in the annual 12th of July parades in Northern Ireland. While they’re at it, Nigel Farage infamously said ‘Up the Ra!’ in a 2021 Cameo video, but has so far evaded capture by the authorities.
If only everyone could lighten up a little. Kneecap emerged from Northern Ireland’s post-conflict rave culture, where young Protestants and Catholics attend illegal parties, take illegal substances, and dance together. This spirit was reflected at the group’s historic gig at Belfast’s SSE Arena when they invited Young Spencer, a loyalist rapper from the Shankill area, to do the support slot.
Irish and British youth have shown a remarkable willingness to understand the nuances of each other’s cultures, move on and have a good time. It is the political classes in both countries that remain decades behind the times.
Peter Flanagan is an Irish comedian and writer. You can find him on Twitter @peterflanagan and Instagram @peterflanagancomedy.
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