KNEECAP’S Liam Ó hAnnaidh, AKA Mo Chara, has said the trio are playing satirical characters on stage.
In an interview with The Guardian – the only official interview the group have given ahead of their much-contested Glastonbury performance – Ó hAnnaidh called his on-stage persona a character after he was asked if he regrets holding a Hezbollah flag, which led to him being charged with terror offences.
The singer said: “It’s a joke. I’m a character. Shit is thrown on stage all the time. If I’m supposed to know every fucking thing that’s thrown on stage, I’d be in Mensa, Jesus Christ.
“I don’t know every proscribed organisation – I’ve got enough shit to worry about up there. I’m thinking about my next lyric, my next joke, the next drop of a beat.”
Ó hAnnaidh described Kneecap as “satirical” when pressed about an old video from a Kneecap gig that resurfaced after their Coachella set, showing the group saying things "the only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP".
He told The Guardian: “Why should I regret it? It was a joke – we’re playing characters, it’s satirical, it’s a fucking joke. And that’s not the point.
“The point is, that [video] wasn’t an issue until we said ‘Free Palestine’ at Coachella. That stuff happened 18 months ago, and nobody batted an eyelid.
“Everybody agreed it was a fucking joke, even people that may have been in the room that didn’t agree – it’s a laugh, we’re all having a bit of craic.
“The point is, and the context is, it all [resurfaced] because of Coachella. That’s what we should be questioning, not whether I regret things.”
The trio are set to perform at Glastonbury on Saturday June 28, though the BBC are unlikely to broadcast their performance.
On Thursday, they announced the release of a film ahead of their performance titled Stop the Genocide, which features testimony from medics working on the ground in the enclave and Palestinians directly affected by the genocide.
Kneecap have repeatedly pointed out that they “are not the story”, the genocide is, after a leaked letter showed a number of music execs echoing Keir Starmer’s views that the group should not be allowed to perform at the festival.
