AN IRISH REBEL song which has been banned at football matches in Scotland has angered unionists after it made an appearance in the UK Top 40.

Roll of Honour, which lionises the Maze Hunger Strikers, was recorded by a group called The Irish Brigade and peaked at 24 in the mid-week charts.

If it does make the top 40, the BBC has confirmed that it will play a clip of the song.

The Irish Brigade were asked by supporters group Fans Against Criminalisation to cover the song in order to oppose the Scottish government’s law that bans the song. A Celtic supporter was convicted in September of singing the song at a match. It received hundreds of downloads and rose the charts during the week.

Lyrics include:

To salute ten Irish martyrs the bravest of the brave,

Joe McDonnell, Martin Hurson, Kevin Lynch, Kieran Doherty,

They gave their lives for freedom with Thomas McElwee,

Michael Devine from Derry you were the last to die

A statement from Fans Against Criminalisation (FAC) said: “FAC contend that it is a damning indictment of the Scottish political and judicial system that legitimate expression of political opinion and cultural heritage within the context of a football match is now enough to result in a criminal conviction.”

However, DUP MP Gregory Campbell wants the song banned, telling the Belfast Telegraph.

“If the BBC was faced with any other song that commemorated murder, and on occasions multiple murders of innocent people, they would take an executive decision not to promote such a recording.

“Exactly the same principles should apply to this as would if it were al-Qaida, Basque separatists or any of the other Middle-Eastern terrorist groups.”