GREEN BRIGADE CELTIC TITLE PARTY ANNOUNCEMENT SHIFTS ONUS BACK TO COUNCIL
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 5 hours ago
- 3 min read
As I said in a previous post, there would be a Celtic title party with or without the consent of Glasgow City Council.
So, the smart thing to do would have been to engage constructively with fan groups and police to makes sure it went smoothly.
As usual, Glasgow City Council have done the exact opposite.
Not only have they made no effort whatsoever to ensure Saturday’s celebrations are coordinated and safe, they've thrown the sectarian hand grenade of an orange walk into the mix as well.
Green Brigade Confirm Time and Place of Celtic Title Party
As in previous years, Celtic fans have been encouraged to congregate in the Trongate area, to celebrate the title triumph.
Most normal cities would simply have some kind of parade, perhaps with the team on an open-top bus showing off the trophy.
Parades in Glasgow however, seem to be a privilege reserved exclusively for sectarian hate groups with their attitudes rooted firmly in the 17th century.
Of course, no one in the media has even suggested the obvious solution of just moving the bigot bash to another day. After all, it’s supposed to be in commemoration of VE Day, which was actually last week.
Well, they seem to think no other rules apply to them, so I guess it was only a matter of time before the LOL decided that the laws of time and physics don’t apply to them either.
In any case, asking the denizens of the Orange Order to move anywhere, except perhaps to the pub or the nearest Greggs is an exercise in futility.
Monday’s ACSOM Bulletin asked the question, and I have to admit I’ve been pondering it myself. Is this all a deliberate ploy by Glasgow City Council to make sure The Celtic Title Party is as chaotic as possible, with the Green Brigade once again cast as the rogue element who caused all the trouble?
We’ve seen from recent events that Police Scotland need very little excuse to wade in and start arbitrarily detaining Celtic fans, particularly, but not exclusively, members of the Green Brigade.
My only issue with this theory is that such a pre-meditated plot would require both competence and forward thinking, neither of which seem to be Glasgow City Council’s strong suits.
Some may see it as trouble making, but personally, I think this is a smart move by the Green Brigade. They’ve now firmly put the emphasis back onto the council and the LOL to find a solution.
As I said more than a month ago, this party is happening, approved or otherwise. You may not agree with that stance, you might consider it arrogant or disruptive, but it is the reality. I know it, you know it, and Glasgow City Council know it. They always did.
Police Scotland will also need to tread carefully. Any attempt at a crackdown on Celtic fans celebrating, whilst they continue to provide logistical support for pointless hate parades across the city will only increase tensions.
The Police are already on thin ice with much of the Scottish public, not just the Celtic support, for their heavy-handedness and their similarly arbitrary invocation of “emergency powers”.
All eyes will be on the Trongate this Saturday. It is in the interests of the council, the police and everyone else to see that it passes peacefully, whether they wanted it to happen in the first place or not.
The time for tantrums is over, the time for talking must begin, now.