Classy.
FORMER Rangers and England footballer Paul Gascoigne has triggered a row after appearing to re-enact a controversial flute-playing gesture in front of an audience in Glasgow.
The footballer, who continues to battle alcoholism, appeared to imitate the gesture to the 1000-strong crowd at the Magnum Leisure Centre in Irvine last Friday as he was welcomed on the stage to Tina Turner’s Simply the Best.
Huge numbers of the audience were also reported as shouting “f*** the pope and the IRA”.
Addressing the crowd as he made his first public appearance since he went to a US addiction clinic after collapsing during a speaking engagement in Northampton in January, Gascoigne shouted: “I f***ing love Glasgow.”
It drew cheers and chanting from the crowd, with some fans also singing banned loyalist songs, including The Billy Boys.
The flute salute is considered to be a controversial Loyalist symbol.
In 1998 Gascoigne was fined for making the taunt towards rivals Celtic when he played for Scottish club Rangers.
His actions during the clash were deemed highly offensive to Celtic’s traditionally Catholic supporters, but Gascoigne claimed he had not known the meaning behind the salute.
Following the incident, he was fined £20,000 and claimed that he had received IRA death threats.
North Ayrshire Councillor Ian Clarkson, who attended the event last Friday, was reported in the Daily Record as saying that the event highlighted problem areas.
“The event in the Magnum was advertised as a comedian/speaker night, and in effect that is what it was,” he said. “Unfortunately, the night highlighted certain problem areas.”
He added: “I believe there was a number in the audience who persisted in singing and chanting, and the stewards should have taken action, to stop any offensive behaviour.”
Mr Clarkson was unavailable for comment when contacted by The Irish Post.
But his comments were branded a joke by Empowering Scotland’s Ethnic and Cultural Minority Communities (BEMIS), Parliamentary and Policy Officer, Danny Boyle.
Speaking to The Irish Post Mr Boyle said: “The image that the local authority is portraying is indicative of the wider problem, it’s not a good approach. They label the problem as a sectarian problem, but that’s too general.”
Mr Boyle referenced statistics provided to The Irish Post by the Scottish Government, which indicated that whilst the number of religiously aggravated charges in the country was decreasing, the majority of these attacks were still targeted at Catholics.
In 2014/15, 569 religiously aggravated charges were reported, four per cent fewer than the previous year and is at its lowest level since 2004-05, when 479 charges were reported.
But in the last year the majority of racial attacks were still targeted at Roman Catholics with 328 incidents reported, which formed 58 per cent of all offences.
Regarding the overall sense of anti-Catholic offences in Scotland, Mr Boyle added: “There’s a disparity, because judging by the evidence it’s [sectarian behaviour] actually an anti-Catholic problem. They [authorities] use generic terms [sectarianism] to mask what the actual problems are. It’s a hate crime.”
At present, football fans can be punished by law for committing sectarian behaviour at matches, but this legislation does not extend further to private events.
A spokeswoman for Police Scotland confirmed that no arrests had been made and no complaints received following the Gascoigne event.
The Irish Post is awaiting a response from a member of Gascoigne’s management team.
http://irishpost.co.uk/81210/
In 2014/15, 569 religiously aggravated charges were reported, four per cent fewer than the previous year and is at its lowest level since 2004-05, when 479 charges were reported. A spokesman for Police Scotland said "we are delighted to have achieved these figures, and this has been mainly accomplished by using a policy of turning a blind eye. And we hope to reduce these figures even more substantially in the coming years."