Wolfe Tones legend says band attracted bigger crowd at Electric Picnic than Joe Duffy ever could

The RTE host accused him of singing ‘brutal awful music which glorified violence to make money’

Bertie Ahern is ‘big fan’ of Wolfe Tones and has attended several gigs

The former Taoiseach, who was a big part of the Good Friday Agreement negotiations, is urging education on the Troubles

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Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has admitted he is a big fan of the Wolfe Tones and has attended several of their gigs.

The rebel ballad band have courted controversy over a number of songs, including Celtic Symphony, which seem to celebrate the IRA. However, Mr Ahern, who played a key role in the Good Friday Agreement which brought an end to the IRA’s terror campaign, says it’s impossible to stop people from singing such lyrics.

He added he would prefer if young people in Ireland were educated about the Troubles, rather than getting hung up on a song. Mr Ahern conceded he had always liked the Wolfe Tones and had listened to them since the 1960s, having attended several of their concerts.

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Wolfe Tones legend Brian Warfield has said the band attracted a bigger crowd at Electric Picnic than Joe Duffy could ever get on his RTE Radio 1 show Liveline.

The folk veteran admitted to being blown away by the huge number of music fans who came to their gig at the festival at Stradbally on Sunday. The outspoken balladeer said they were “truly humbled” by the hordes who thronged to the Electric Arena tent for their set in Co Laois.

It’s estimated that up to 30,000 fans sang along to the Wolfe Tones, the biggest ever crowd to descend on the Electric Arena in the festival’s history. It comes just weeks after warbler Warfield, 77, got into a heated row with Duffy on his show.

The RTE host accused him of singing “brutal awful music which glorified violence to make money”. However, speaking about their EP performance to the Mirror last night, Warfield said: “Well it was absolutely spectacular. I think people got their answer about the right to sing a song and I think at the end of the day, the people of Ireland have spoken.

“The young people of Ireland have spoken in numbers that Joe Duffy could never get.”

The pair became embroiled in a row live on air last month after the band came in for criticism following their set at the Belfast Feile, which included Celtic Symphony.

An angry Joe told Brian: “I think your music is awful, brutal old rubbish. Even Sinn Fein don’t sing Ooh ah, up the Ra now. They have moved on.”

Brian said he was planning on making a formal complaint against Joe, claiming he felt like he was ambushed. But speaking yesterday, just 24 hours after the performers made EP history by becoming the first band to draw in the biggest crowd at the tent, Warfield said he was delighted with their popularity.

He added: “We knew we would have a big crowd and that we were definitely going to fill the tent. I believe the tent held 14,000 inside so I don’t know, there could’ve been another 14,000 outside.

“I don’t know but we played to a huge crowd altogether. We could see it. The decibels coming off the crowd, they were singing every song. They sang Grace and Let The People Sing. A song for peace and liberty.

“They sang all the songs and the decibels coming off the crowds drowned out my monitor. I couldn’t hear it. The crowd were leading me, I wasn’t leading the crowd. It was unbelievable.

“They like the Wolfe Tones and their music. It is no harm to like them or The Beatles or whatever you like. We are a musical group, we’re not a political group and we sing about Ireland.”

The band – now in their 60th year – tweeted after the show: “Thank you @EPFestival for having us tonight! Thank you to the massive crowds who thronged the Electric Arena tent, we are truly humbled. Our sincerest thanks!” Organisers of the festival said: “The Wolfe Tones drew the biggest crowd ever in the Electric Arena, with fans enjoying the music inside and outside the tent, singing along to every song.”

Electric Picnic 2023 drew to a close on Sunday, after three days of music and merriment that saw the likes of Niall Horan, Billie Eilish and The Killers play headline slots. The Saw Doctors also drew big crowds but it was the Wolfe Tones that appeared to be the weekend’s highlight.

Festival-goers have since been calling for the group to return next year but this time on the main stage. The band’s performance prompted discussion across radio yesterday, with Newstalk hosts Shane Coleman and Ciara Kelly also giving their views.

Shane said he is concerned by the idea of “rewriting history”. He added: “I think there is now a mythology about the Troubles and the 25 years from 1969 to 1994 that it was a kind of a glorious war.

“I think people who were at that gig yesterday are too young – they weren’t even born when it happened – and they’re too young to remember that it was horrible and it was ugly.” Shane said there is a “worrying and dangerous” view that has taken hold that there was “no alternative” to the Troubles and that it was a “great and glorious war”.

He added: “It wasn’t. It was an ugly, nasty, violent war. I want to stress, I’m not having a go at those kids who are singing, but I do worry about rewriting history.”