Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, left, aka Mo Chara, Naoise Ó Cairealláin, aka Móglaí Bap and J. J. Ó Dochartaigh, aka DJ Próvaí, of Kneecap during a press conference in Conway Mill this afternoon. Alamy Stock Photo
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'You falsely tried to label me a terrorist' - Jubilant scenes greet 'free mawn' Mo Chara

‘Kneecap are on the right side of history,’ said their solicitor Darragh Mackin.
6.33pm, 11 Mar 2026
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Diarmuid Pepper reports from Belfast

A WOMAN HOLDING a Palestine flag waited in the rain for around half an hour for Kneecap to make an appearance in West Belfast this afternoon after a press conference was called by the group in reaction to the news that rapper Liam Og Ó hAnnaidh would not face a terror trial.

The woman, a member of the Belfast branch of the Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, had a message she felt she had to deliver to Ó hAnnaidh, who goes by the stage name Mo Chara.

“You stood up against ‘mighty’ England with dignity and you won.”

As the High Court judges gathered in London to consider a Crown Prosecution Service appeal against the decision to throw out the case against Ó hAnnaidh, media and supporters of Kneecap gathered at Conway Mill.

‘Fitting we’re here today’

Conway Mill was originally built around 1842, and was one of the first linen spinning mills to be established on the Lower Falls Road.

It’s currently owned and managed by Conway Mill Preservation Trust, which was set up in 1999 to preserve and restore the mill complex for the benefit of the people of West Belfast.

After extensive refurbishment, it’s now one Belfast’s best preserved and most important historical buildings and provides a unique multi-functional space.

Before Kneecap and their solicitor Darragh Mackin spoke, it was remarked that Conway Mill is an important place for West Belfast.

“This place was to be demolished in the 1980s but the late Father Des Wilson, Frank Cahill and others reclaimed this place.

“It was a place during the conflict that represented our area. It was somewhere that gave voice to our experiences and helped families and communities to come here to campaign for justice.

“So it’s fitting that we’re here today.”

‘Guess who’s back in the news’

And while the High Court delivered its judgement in London rejecting a Crown Prosecution Service appeal against the decision to throw out the case against Ó hAnnaidh, those gathered in Conway Mill waited for the announcement.

But rather than learning of the decision through a news alert, those gathered found out through a banging that came from one of the upper windows.

It was Ó hAnnaidh by the window, shouting “yeooooo” and holding a sign that read: “I’m a free mawn!”

One of Kneecap’s best known songs, ‘Get Your Brits Out’, starts with Mo Chara rapping: “Guess who’s back on the news.”

Ó hAnnaidh’s solicitor, Darragh Mackin of Phoenix Law, started the press conference and remarked: “It’s difficult to resist the temptation to start with the line, ‘guess who’s back in the news’.”

He said this story will “start and end with this community, whose courage was contagious”.

“Since the inception of this prosecution, Kneecap questioned its motivations and its ability.”

He said the UK Government’s argument was “wrong and unnatural” but remarked that the “rule of law must prevail”.

“There are better ways to spend British pounds than on pointless prosecutions and pursuing expensive appeals.

“Today, this decision brings this expensive circus to an end.”

Mackin added that “courage is no short supply in this part of the world” and that “Kneecap are on the right side of history.”

“It was a witch hunt cultivated in Westminster, but comes to an end today in West Belfast – Mo Chara is a free mawn.”

When it came Mo Chara’s time to speak, he remarked that this was about “what happens if you dare to speak up, about the lengths Britain will go to cover up Israeli and US war crimes”.

He added: “You’re attempt to label me a terrorist has failed, because I was right and yet again, Britain was wrong.

“Kneecap will not be silenced and the people of West Belfast will not be silenced.

“You falsely tried to label me a terrorist, while it is the British government ministers that are arming and assisting a genocide Gaza, the destruction of Lebanon and the senseless slaughter of school kids in Iran.”

‘Fiasco’

When asked by The Journal if there is a possibility Kneecap could take up a malicious prosecution against the Crown Prosecution Service, Mackin said there is “scope to take action against them”.

“It’ll be interesting to see what steps the British government takes themselves to investigate just how this fiasco came about,” he added.

“The court is unquestionably critical of the manner in which this prosecution was brought.

“I think the first step is for the UK Government to review their own processes to determine how this got to where it got to, and after that, we will consider all options as to whether a malicious prosecution is required.”

He added that decisions like today, and the recent decision of the UK High Court to rule that the government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation was unlawful, “give some comfort that when there is political pressure and political provocation, the rule law can pave a way through the darkness”.

“It shows just how powerful the rule of law can be – it’s apolitical and should apply without fear or favour.”

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