Sectarianism in Glasgow

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sectarianism in Glasgow takes the form of sectarian rivalry between Roman Catholics and Protestants. Sectarianism still exists in certain sectors of Glasgow's population,^[1] and is deeply rooted in the football culture of the city and reinforced by the fierce rivalry between the two Old Firm clubs: Rangers and Celtic.^[1]

Contents 1 Immigration 2 Football 3 Northern Ireland 4 See also 5 Footnotes

[edit] Immigration

The large majority of Roman Catholics are of Irish origin, although a few came from the Highlands, as well as Lithuania, Poland and Italy.^{[citation needed]} Many Protestants from Ulster also migrated to Glasgow at this time, bringing the culture and traditions of that community.^{[citation needed]} There was a significant influx of shipyard workers just before the First World War.^{[citation needed]}

Glasgow has constantly had a ferment of new incoming groups: Jews, Highlanders, Italian Catholics, and more recently asylum seekers of many faiths.^{[citation needed]} Many see this as an enrichment and revitalising of the city, and regard bigotry as a dark but distant part of this vibrant and modern city's history.^{[citation needed]} Although acceptance of other faiths in Glasgow is not universal, surveys comparing people's ideas about sectarianism with their actual day-to-day personal experience show that the perception of sectarianism is much stronger than its occurrence in reality,^[2] and that the city's problems with health, education and social deprivation are of much greater daily concern to most Glaswegians.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Football

Today, overt sectarianism primarily manifests itself in, and is driven by, the rivalry between the supporters of Glasgow's two main football clubs, Celtic F.C. and Rangers F.C., collectively known as the 'Old Firm' for their dominance of Scottish football. There is a clear religious divide between the clubs, in many respects. 74% of Celtic supporters identify as Catholic, wheras only 4% identify as Protestant; for Rangers fans, the figures are 5% and 65% respectively.^[1] At Ibrox Stadium, the Union Flag has pride of place, whilst, at Celtic Park, it is the Flag of Ireland.^[1]

Despite this enduring division, there have been recent changes in the relationship. When Rangers signed Mo Johnston, in 1989, demonstrations were held against the purchase of a Roman Catholic.^[3] Although Johnston was not their first Roman Catholic player, his signature laid the way for Rangers to sign more Roman Catholic players since, including Lorenzo Amoruso, who served as the club's captain. Furthermore, in the past ten years, both Celtic and Rangers have launched campaigns to stamp out sectarian violence and songs; Celtic's 'Bhoys Against Bigotry', Rangers' 'Pride Over Prejudice', and the cross-club 'Sense Over Sectarianism' campaigns have been launched to reduce the connection between the Old Firm and sectarianism.^[4]

There has been a steep rise in sectarian abuse in the west of Scotland recently. Figures show that sectarian incidents reported to police have risen by 50%. A study showed that 64% of the 726 cases between January 1 2004 and June 30 2005 were motivated by hatred against Catholics, the remaining percentage being mainly for hatred against Protestants.^[5]

[edit] Northern Ireland

The Orangemen of Glasgow (members of the Protestant Orange Lodges), parade through the city around the historic 12th July, playing flutes and drums and singing songs in a celebration of the victory of William of Orange's army over James Stuart's army at the Battle of the Boyne. These marches are often seen as a source of tension (and are now subject to stricter controls as a result)^[6], with each side accusing the other of supporting Northern Ireland-based paramilitary groups like the Irish Republican Army and Ulster Defence Association.^{[citation needed]} In 1997, a Protestant man, called Jason Campbell, was convicted of the murder of a Catholic teenager; after conviction, Campbell applied to be transferred to The Maze prison in Northern Ireland, but this was turned down.^[7]

Republican marches use much the same format to commemorate various important dates in the history of Irish Republicanism such as the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and the 1981 Hungerstrikes. The main organisation is Cairde Na hEireann, which claims to represents the Irish community of Britain. The organisation has bands associated with it and marches on the anniversaries of events in the republican calendar. They were recently banned by Ayr council from marching on police advice. Another organisation who march is the West Of Scotland Band Alliance who have split from Cairde Na hEireann.

[edit] See also

• Sectarian violence

[edit] Footnotes