The Wolfe Tones have accused a DUP councillor of “nit-picking” after the band were criticised for pro-IRA chants on the last night of the Ardoyne Fleadh.
Chants of "ooh ah up the Ra" can be heard during video footage of a performance of one of the band's best known songs, Celtic Symphony.
DUP north Belfast councillor Brian Kingston said he has written to the head of Belfast City Council to complain about the "noise and lateness" of the performance as well as the content.
"I reported it to the council's noise hotline and I also asked the warden to take note of what was being performed. This is not something that was happening in the crowd, it was something that they were being led in.
"They sang this line 'up the Ra' in front of a large crowd of impressionable young people at both the Féile on Saturday and the Ardoyne Fleadh on Sunday. It is ironic that the Ardoyne Fleadh performance was on the same day as the violence on the streets."
He added: "The Celtic Symphony was the last song and it was played at 11.42pm. I found it extraordinary. The IRA is a terrorist organisation which murdered hundreds of people and carried out bombing campaigns."
Speaking to The Irish News yesterday, Wolfe Tones banjo player and lead songwriter Brian Warfield said Mr Kingston "obviously has nothing better to do".
He said: "I didn’t see anything derogatory about it at all. People just seek for something to scratch the surface and cause trouble. He has picked out one song out of a two-and-a-half hour performance.
"It is a song about Glasgow Celtic. I don’t think there is something to apologise for. This is nit picking stuff from a councillor who has nothing better to do. He isn’t the first to pick on the Tones. It is absolutely ridiculous."
Mr Warfield added: "If someone wants to go and sing The Sash, no problem, in fact we have two records with The Sash mentioned. People should be more concerned about the problems in their city than a song."
The Ardoyne Fleadh performance came hours after violence broke out in north Belfast following an anti-internment parade.
There was also controversy last year when another band, The Druids, told a Fleadh audience that British soldiers "should get together with their Orange comrades" and "go back to England".
The DUP later criticised a decision by the Public Prosecution Service not to take action over the remarks.
Belfast City Council, which previously funded the Ardoyne Fleadh, last night said an application for funding for this summer had been unsuccessful.
Ardoyne Fleadh did not respond to a request for comment but tweeted yesterday: "Hi Brian (Kingston) the term you may have heard was ‘Up the Fleadh!’ We would also like to note that this concert, like all our open air concerts, was funded by community fundraising."
