Sectarianism in Glasgow

Sectarianism in Glasgow takes the form of religious and political sectarian rivalry between Roman Catholics and Protestants. It is reinforced by the fierce rivalry between Celtic F.C. and Rangers F.C., the two Old Firm football clubs. Although a 2003 Survey from Glasgow City Council indicated that people clearly believe "sectarianism is still prevalent in Glasgow", members of the public appear divided on the strength of the relationship between football and sectarianism.

Religion

Deaths and serious assaults have been directly linked to sectarian tensions within the city. Many of these have occurred either before or after Old Firm football matches. The murder in 1996 of Mark Scott, a Celtic fan, by Jason Campbell, caused outrage, and as a result the anti-sectarianism charity Nil By Mouth was formed.

In June 2003, after the publication of the Scottish Executive's Action Plan on Tackling Sectarianism in Scotland, Section 74 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 was implemented. This set out the situations when a criminal offence was aggravated by religious prejudice.

In 2004 and 2005, sectarian incidents reported to police in Scotland increased by 50% to 440 over 18 months. Scottish Government statistics showed that 64% of the 726 cases in the period were motivated by hatred against Catholics, and by hatred against Protestants in most of the remaining cases (31%).

In the five years before 2011, annually there were between 600 and 700 charges of an offence aggravated by religious prejudice in Scotland.

Football

Sectarianism in Glasgow is visible in the rivalry between the supporters of Glasgow's two main football clubs, Celtic and Rangers, collectively known as the Old Firm. One study showed that 74% of Celtic supporters identify themselves as Catholic, whereas only 4% identify as Protestant; for Rangers fans, the figures are 5% and 65%, respectively. At Rangers' Ibrox Stadium, the Union Flag and Ulster banner are often displayed, whilst at Celtic Park, the Irish tricolour prevails. Rangers' decision to sign a Roman Catholic and former Celtic star player, Mo Johnston, in 1989 proved controversial. Although not the first Catholic to play for Rangers, Johnston was by far the highest-profile openly Catholic player to do so since World War I.

One Rangers spokesman used the term "90-minute bigot" to explain part of the problem of religious bigotry among supporters and suggested this bigotry should be dealt with first.

Celtic, throughout its history, has had a policy of signing players from any religion. While many Celtic fans are Catholic, some of the key figures in the club's history (including John Thompson, Bertie Peacock, Jock Stein, Kenny Dalglish, Danny McGrain) have come from a Protestant – and in the case of Stein a Unionist – background.^{[citation needed]}

Both Celtic and Rangers have launched campaigns to stamp out sectarian violence and songs. Celtic's Bhoys Against Bigotry, Rangers' Follow With Pride (previously called Pride Over Prejudice) and the cross-club Sense Over Sectarianism campaigns have attempted to reduce the connection between the Old Firm and sectarianism.

Research, however, suggests that football is unlikely to be the main source of sectarianism in Glasgow. An audit from the Crown Office in 2006 of religiously aggravated crimes in Scotland between January 2004 and June 2005, found that 33% of these were related to football. Given that 57% of religiously aggravated crimes in Scotland happened in Glasgow, at the very most approximately half of religiously aggravated crimes in Glasgow could have been football related in this period.

In 2011 Celtic staff and fans were sent suspected explosive devices and bullets. Subsequently, Dr. John Kelly of University of Edinburgh suggested that "Recent events have buried the myth that anti-Irish Catholic bigotry no longer exists."

Orangemen vs. Irish republicanism

The Orangemen of Glasgow (members of the Protestant Orange Lodges), parade through the city around the historic date of the Twelfth (12 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 a source of tension (and are now subject to stricter controls as a result), with each side accusing the other of supporting Northern Ireland-based paramilitary groups such as the Irish Republican Army or Ulster Defence Association. Irish 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 hunger strike. The two main Irish republican organisations in Glasgow are Cairde na hÉireann and the West Of Scotland Band Alliance, both of which claim to represent the Irish community in Scotland.

According to The Review of Marches and Parades in Scotland by Sir John Orr, of the 338 notified processions in Glasgow in 2003 nearly 85% were from Orange organisations (Orr 2005, p. 67). A report into parades in Glasgow from Strathclyde Police in October 2009, highlighted the increased number of common, serious and racially motivated assaults associated with the marches. These included assaults against the police. Also there was a rise in weapons possession, vandalism, breach of the peace and street drinking.

Counter Arguments

According to Steve Bruce, an exponent of the decline of Christianity in Western Europe, 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, and that the city's problems with health, education and social exclusion are of much greater daily concern to most Glaswegians.

Also according to Steve Bruce, less than a third of 1% of murders in Scotland over nearly two decades had any sectarian motive- and those that did were the result of football allegiances not religion or ethnicity.

See also

• Sectarian violence
• Anti Sectarian Charity Nil By Mouth
• Anti-Catholicism
• Anti-Catholicism in the United Kingdom
• Anti-Protestantism