KNEECAP ARE SET to perform at a festival outside of Paris today despite objections in France over Mo Chara’s ongoing court case.

Local authorities have withdrawn subsidies for the Rock en Seine music festival after organisers decided to keep Kneecap on the programme.

They are due to perform at 4.30pm local time this afternoon.

Matthieu Ducos, director of Rock en Seine, said ahead of the festival that organisers are “confident that the group will perform in the correct manner”. 

The municipality of Saint-Cloud, where the festival takes place, has withdrawn a €40,000 subsidy for the first time, while the wider Ile-de-France region also cancelled its funding for the festival.

However, the withdrawn funding has not jeopardised the viability of the festival, which has a  budget this year of between €16m and €17m.

Kneecap has already played twice in France this summer at the Eurockeennes festival in Belfort and the Cabaret Vert in Charleville-Mezieres without incident.

However, the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) has called for today’s concert to be cancelled, while French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said vigilance would be required against “any comments of an antisemitic nature, apology for terrorism or incitement to hatred” at the event. 

Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, known by his stage name Mo Chara, is facing charges in the UK of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah during a gig last November.

Since he was charged with the offences, Kneecap has been removed from the line-up of several festivals, including Sziget in Budapest after being barred by Hungarian authorities.

At gigs where they have performed, they have continued to platform their calls for Israel to end its war on Gaza and for a free Palestinian state, with fans often waving Palestinian flags in the crowd in support.

Additional reporting by AFP