Donegal Sinn Féin TD Padraig Mac Lochlainn has hit out at the fresh controversy surrounding the music of the Wolfe Tones following their historic Electric Picnic gig.
Debates sprung up nationwide after the Republican band attracted a record-breaking crowd to their performance last Sunday.
There was mixed reaction in the media to footage of festivalgoers chanting the likes of ‘Ooh ah, up the Ra’ to songs such as “Celtic Symphony”. Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said that young people should “educate themselves” about the Troubles to understand our “difficult history”.
Deputy Mac Lochlainn took to social media to slam the “sickening hypocrisy” of those who are lecturing young people on their history after the concert.
He said: “These hypocrites invite us to celebrate the Irish Republican men and women from 1916 and from 1919 to 1923 but to criminalise the Irish Republican men and women from the 1960s to the 1990s.
“The days of Section 31 are over.
“Our young people see you. They know their history.”
Wolfe Tones lead singer Brian Warfield told Joe Duffy on RTE’s Liveline that the band was “truly humbled” by the massive crowd that gathered for their gig. The crowd was so huge that it overflowed out of the Electric Arena tent and across the field.
“Well it was absolutely spectacular. I think people got their answer about the right to sing a song and I think at the end of the day, the people of Ireland have spoken,” Warfield said.
“The young people of Ireland have spoken in numbers that Joe Duffy could never get.”
The Wolfe Tones gig was so popular that they used the buzz to launch a 60th Anniversary revival at the 3arena next year.
