If the IRA's plans had worked out differently, this border townland would have been devastated
You probably won't recognise the name 'Tullyhommon', but it's only by the grace of God that you don't.
If the IRA's plans had worked out differently in 1987, the blink-and-you'll-miss-it townland on the border between Donegal and Fermanagh at Pettigo would have been up there with the likes of La Mon, McGurk's bar, the Shankill and Greysteel in the list of Troubles atrocities.
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The latest calumny to rock the corporation to its foundations, concerns its apparent failure to immediately stop filming an obscure singer shouting some moronic things in a field in Somerset. On that basis the world – and by that I mean the Conservative Party and the Daily Mail – have gone into meltdown, demanding the immediate arrest of anyone remotely connected to the affair, up to and including the director-general of the BBC. God help us. If that was to transpire, we truly would be on a runaway train towards the terminus of a police state. Read more by Carlos Alba Amid the froth and fury of events at Glastonbury last Sunday, it would benefit us all to draw breath and calmly consider what actually happened. One of two punk singers, both called Bob Vylan – but whose true identities we don't know because they refuse to divulge them – took time from their set to chant 'death to the IDF' (Israeli Defence Force). The performer of whom, before last weekend, few of us had ever heard, also used the phrase 'from the river to the sea', interpreted by some as advocating the destruction of Israel. From the little information that is publicly available about Bob Vylan, they are clearly more Ali G than Malcolm X. The pair hail from Ipswich, from where they have waged a near decade-long campaign of meat-headed, sixth-form sloganeering, with song lyrics like 'violence is the only language some people understand'; 'I heard you want your country back/shut the f**k up'; and 'Whitney was everything to me when I was a kid'. Prior to Glastonbury, all the talk was about the platforming of the Belfast hip hop trio Kneecap, who have form when it comes to upsetting the British establishment, through an overtly pro-Irish republican agenda. If Bob Vylan's intention was to boost their own profile by grabbing the spotlight of infamy from Kneecap, they clearly succeeded, though at a cost. Their antics have sparked an investigation by Avon and Somerset Police, cost them their relationship with their agent, and led to the imposition of a ban on them entering the United States. Someone should tell them that a minimum obligation on anyone claiming the right of free speech is to divulge who is doing the speaking. There are those however – like the Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp, and former Home Secretary Priti Patel – for whom Bob Vylan are small fry, and who have their eyes on the bigger prize. Philp urged police to investigate and prosecute both the performers and the BBC, condemning the broadcaster for airing "vile hatred" that incites violence. The first test for the police, in deciding whether to bring charges, will be whether the singer's words actually did incite violence and here, the evidence is scant. 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Why is all the focus on the BBC, rather than on the festival organisers making vast amounts of money platforming such acts? It's not as if organisers didn't know the potential dangers posed by Bob Vylan, who posted on Facebook ahead of their performance: "Turns out we're finally at a point where the BBC trust us on live TV! Watch us live either in the field or in the comfort of your own home!" Let's be clear, the chances of Tim Davie – or anyone else at the BBC – being successfully prosecuted for anything over this affair are slimmer than Kneecap campaigning for the Tories at the next General Election. Beyond the silly season neurosis of the Bob Vylan saga, the real villains are the Israeli politicians and soldiers responsible for the deaths of 56,531 Gazans since October 7 and the animals from Hamas who perpetrated the 2023 atrocity. Carlos Alba is a journalist, author, and PR consultant at Carlos Alba Media. His latest novel, There's a Problem with Dad, explores the issue of undiagnosed autism among older people
