Following on from my recent article (Celtic fans arguing over National Identity is sad and unnecessary), I feel a much shorter, simple analysis can be offered to put the exclamation mark on the issue and move on.
Celtic’s identity is never something that causes much ambiguity or conflict at matches, but international week seems to create a petty squabble. It highlights the stage that the Irish in Scotland are at, whereby the generations have grown further from the Emerald Isle, causing some to feel Scottish whilst others retain stronger affinity with their ancestral roots. This is not really a point of contention at Celtic games, where Irish expression and proud Scots mingle happily, knowing the significance of Celtic’s identity.
I posted a short Tweet this morning to try and bring some sanity to the Celtic support and get back to rational thinking.
The tweet seems to have been well received by fans of different traditions. I hope it encapsulates what Celtic is about and underpins exactly why this debate is not relevant as personal identity is not the same as the identity of the football club we all love.
Think this is a great point. Keep your own identity, but recognise Celtic’s history. Many a proud Scot happily sings Irish songs at Celtic games because of the relevance to the identity of the club. This should be embraced not a point to argue over…
Celtic is an Irish club started by the Irish for the Irish community who moved to Scotland after the famine. Supported by the Irish and Irish descendants primarily, and sing Irish songs, have strong Irish political connections etc. Celtic Park was built by Irish people, our first manager for 50 years was Irish, the turf in the centre circle is from Donegal. Literally without Ireland there would not be a Celtic.
It’s like a Chinese takeaway in England. Everything about it is Chinese, its not an English takeaway just because its based in England.
Most of our Scottish fans might feel Scottish now, but they still celebrate Celtic’s Irish roots. If you take that away then Celtic is no different to St Johnstone, it has no culture, no worldwide support, no politics. It becomes nothing more than a club.
There’s no need for people to slate others born in Scotland, a few generations down the line for not feeling Irish anymore, good for them qualifying for the euros and for my friends who follow them everywhere. They might be Scottish, but as long as they don’t rewrite the history and identity of Celtic (which they don’t) then it doesn’t matter. All these arguments over whether people should support Scotland or Ireland aren’t needed.
