“Mindless bigots” daub Kill All Taigs slogan on Irish republican group’s Glasgow HQ
Posted By: June 28, 2018
Martin Williams. The Herald. Scotland. Wednesday, June 27, 2018
AN IRISH republican group has condemned the “mindless bigots” who have painted a Kill All Taigs [derogatory name for Catholics] slogan on its Glasgow headquarters and a neighboring bar.
Cairde na hEireann declared that “anti-Irish racism is very much alive in Scotland” after KAT was painted on its Gallowgate offices and Bar 67, a well-known haunt for Celtic fans. Vandals also smeared UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) on the panels of the pub.
Taig is a derogatory term used to refer to Irish Catholics.
The UVF is a paramilitary group created to stand against Home Rule in the early 1900s before World War 1 and later became one of the loyalist groups fighting the Irish Republican Army during the Troubles.[sic. The UVF did not really fight the IRA; instead, it murdered innocent Catholics].
Cairde na hEireann said: “To the mindless bigots that decided to vandalize our shop, and nearby Bar 67, last night we ask, what you think your actions may have achieved?
“What you have done is highlight what we already know, is that anti-Irish racism is very much still alive in Scotland.
“Anti- Irish racism is an issue which we have vigorously campaigned against over the years, despite the issue being played down by many.
“Acts like this just go to show that we were right to highlight it in the past and will be right to highlight and campaign against it in the future.
“This type of mindless activity does nothing to deter us and in will in fact only serve to make us stronger.”
Anti-Catholic graffiti spikes in Glasgow
Bar 67 described the perpetrators as “cowardly scumbags” and questioned whether the matter would be taken seriously enough.
A spokesman added: “Police visited the pub to look at the graffiti, and my son had to explain what KAT meant, and when they were told, they asked what taigs meant, yes really!
“He asked them if they were reporting it as a hate crime, yes really!
“He was asked if it was offensive to him, yes really!
“He told them, considering one wall had the name of a terrorist organization and the other wall had a slogan urging the murder of Catholics, well YES its f**kin offensive!”
Last week, the Catholic Church said that new figures which show that Catholics make up half of all victims of religiously aggravated hate crimes are the “depressing reality” of an “intolerant iceberg.”
The latest religiously aggravated offending in Scotland statistics, published by the Scottish Government on June 15, show that Roman Catholicism is the religion that was most often the subject of reported abuse, with 319 charges from 2017 to 2018.
This is a decrease of 17 percent from 384 charges in the previous year. However, it still amounts to half of all religiously aggravated hate crimes in Scotland.
Incidents of sectarian graffiti have more than doubled in Glasgow, and most of the crimes target Catholics, according to data that emerged in November. Glasgow City Council was asked to clean up 83 incidents of bigoted scrawls in 2015 and 188 in 2016.
The rise appeared to be continuing as there were 56 sectarian graffiti incidents the first three months of 2017.
Last month anti-Catholic graffiti was painted on St Columbkille’s Church in Rutherglen.
A variety of offensive slogans and symbols, including FTP – a slur against the Pope – were daubed on the walls.
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “On 9.30am on Tuesday, June 26, police received a report of sectarian graffiti sprayed on two properties in the Gallowgate, Bar 67 and Cairde na hEireann shop. Inquiries are ongoing.”
