Green Man urged to drop Irish group amid Gaza comments and terror charge controversy

A MEMBER of Northern Irish rap group Kneecap has been charged with a terrorism offence, prompting a political backlash and renewed calls for the group to be removed from the line-up of Wales’ Green Man Festival.

Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who performs under the name Mo Chara, is accused of displaying a Hezbollah flag at a London gig last November. The 27-year-old is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on June 18, charged under anti-terror legislation. The Metropolitan Police said the flag was allegedly displayed “in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion” of support for a proscribed organisation.

The Belfast-based trio, who rap in Irish and are known for their anti-establishment lyrics, strongly deny the charge and say the case amounts to “political policing” aimed at silencing their criticism of the Israeli government’s war in Gaza.

In a statement released on Thursday (May 22), Kneecap said: “14,000 babies are about to die of starvation in Gaza, with food sent by the world sitting on the other side of a wall, and once again the British establishment is focused on us. This is a carnival of distraction. We are not the story — genocide is.”

The group added that they would “vehemently contest” the charge, which they claim is designed to restrict their ability to travel and perform. They said: “This is an attempt to silence artists who dare speak out.”

The charge comes after Kneecap used a recent performance at California’s Coachella festival to denounce Israel’s military action in Gaza. The group has been the subject of controversy in the UK press, with videos circulating from earlier performances that appear to show provocative political statements and banners referencing banned organisations.

While the group has distanced itself from any formal support for Hamas or Hezbollah, it continues to face criticism from campaigners and politicians.

In Wales, Shadow Minister for Culture and North Wales, Gareth Davies MS, has called for the Green Man Festival to remove Kneecap from its 2025 line-up. He previously wrote to the festival’s organisers on April 28, citing concerns over “violent and extremist rhetoric” and warning that platforming the group risks damaging the festival’s reputation.

Following the announcement of the terror charge, Mr Davies renewed his demand, stating: “It’s deeply concerning that Green Man have remained silent even after terror charges have been brought against a member of this group.

“There is a clear pattern of violent and extremist rhetoric associated with Kneecap that has no place at a respected cultural event in Wales. The festival acted quickly in 2019 to remove Meic Stevens over anti-Muslim comments. The same consistency should be applied here.”

Organisers of the Green Man Festival have yet to respond publicly.

Meanwhile, in the Republic of Ireland, Tánaiste Simon Harris declined to comment on the specific case but condemned the actions of Israel in Gaza, stating that recent attacks amounted to a “consistent pattern of war crimes” and that “we’re very much now in the space of genocidal activity”.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism, which reported Kneecap to the police, welcomed the prosecution and called for “the law to be enforced”.

The case is likely to further inflame tensions over freedom of expression, political activism, and public performances in Wales and beyond, particularly as summer festivals prepare to welcome artists with diverse — and often controversial — viewpoints.

Haverfordwest Castle is being transformed – and it’s time for you to have your say!

PEMBROKESHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL in partnership with Haverfordwest Castle CIO are planning a brand new visitor experience across three floors of the old County Gaol that sits within the Castle’s grounds; sharing the stories of Pembrokeshire’s past, present and future.

Funding for this stage of the project is from The National Heritage Lottery Fund.

We want to hear what you would like to see and do at the Castle.

You can find the questionnaire at www.haverfordwestcastle.wales  or pick up a paper copy of the questionnaire at the reception of County Hall, Pembrokeshire County Council in Haverfordwest.

Spend just five minutes sharing your thoughts, memories, and stories from across Pembrokeshire.

While Haverfordwest Castle will be central to the experience, the stories told there will reflect the whole county — its people, places, past and future. Whether you grew up in the shadow of the Castle, have family roots in another part of Pembrokeshire, or simply care about preserving and sharing our shared heritage and highlighting Pembrokeshire’s uniqueness today – your insight is invaluable.

We want to create something distinctive, authentic, and deeply rooted in Pembrokeshire’s heritage and present day — not just a story about Haverfordwest Castle, but a story told through it.

Within the county’s old Goal, we wish to build an experience that resonates with people across the county and with visitors from further afield. Whether your connection is to the Castle or a corner of Pembrokeshire miles away, your stories, ideas, and memories will give this new attraction its heart.

The project has been in the making for almost 10 years and has been developed in conjunction with an active group of community stakeholders. When open, the attraction will be run by Haverfordwest Castle CIO, an independent charitable organisation that has emerged from the stakeholder group.

Work is currently underway for the first stage of the project to restore to the Castle and the old Gaol, funded by LUF to a state ready for the fit out of an exciting exhibition.

A NEW co-operative formed between West Wales pig farmers and a meat supplier is allowing pork from herds born and reared within the region to be transported for processing just a short distance in a low-throughput abattoir – reducing stress on the animals, providing low food miles meat for consumers and improving producer margins.

The eight Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire-based farmers were brought together by the Farming Connect Agrisgôp initiative after the idea was discussed by Fishguard meat supplier and butcher Martyn Lloyd and Agrisgôp leader Lilwen Joynson.

Martyn had been a member of another Agrisgôp group where Lilwen had helped him to develop his idea for a new processing facility and later, at a Farming Connect mentoring meeting, the idea for the Red Dragon Porc Cyf co-operative was established.

Martyn and his wife, Danielle, had been unable to source low food miles pork for their customers.

“We could get beef and lamb and we have our own poultry but what we were missing was pork, we did our best to find Welsh pork for customers but that pork came with a lot of food miles and that doesn’t fit with our business ethos,’’ Martyn explains.

Developing an abattoir on their farm at Cilshafe presented a solution.

“We wanted to get some pork producers on board, to help them advance their businesses,’’ says Martyn.

“There are a lot of small pig producers in west Wales and many were struggling to work out how best to get their meat to the market but with an existing customer base we could help. We looked to Agrisgôp to help to bring that to life.’’

After the first Agrisgôp meeting, facilitated by Lilwen, the idea took shape.

Agrisgôp is a fully-funded management development programme that encourages eligible farmers to get together to not only develop their businesses, but to personally gain confidence and skills through action learning.

And this is what happened for the Red Dragon Porc Cyf members.

Farmers had been receiving inconsistent prices for their pigs when they marketed as individual businesses and their ability to supply a butcher directly was constrained as meeting supply volume requirements was tricky.

“The farmers shared a mission and were guided on putting their ideas into action,’’ Lilwen explains.

Building trust and confidence was crucial to the process of forming a cooperative.

“Collaboration and open sharing are definitely key,’’ says Lilwen.

“Differences of opinion and thinking had to be overcome and a set of rules and values adopted with individuals accepting that it had to work for the majority since they were no longer operating as individual businesses.’’

For some it even meant changing breeding patterns and breed type to accommodate market demands.

At the end of 2024, Red Dragon Porc Cyf had already marketed £43,000 worth of pork, including sausages which captured awards at last year’s Royal Welsh Winter Fair.

In April, the missing part of the local pork jigsaw slotted into position when the Lloyds started processing pork at their own Food Standards Agency-approved abattoir.

Until then, co-operative members including Will Kerr had to transport their pigs further to be processed.

“We didn’t have any control over prices, the margins were very small,’’ Will admits. “Martyn opening the abattoir in Fishguard has been the catalyst we needed.’’

Will has six Welsh pig breeding sows, which he runs alongside suckler beef and sheep enterprises at his family’s farm, Blaenawen, at Glanrhyd.

He had long been frustrated at the perception of pork being, in his words “the cheap cousin’’ of beef and lamb.

While it has become commonplace for butchers to display the full history of the beef and lamb they are selling, Will points out that this is rarely applied to pork because it is largely sourced wholesale or has been imported.

“We too are now in a position to tell the exciting story of our pork,’’ says Will, who farms with his parents, Mark and Kip.

He sees a major advantage in being part of a co-operative. “As a group we are more powerful, it gives us many advantages, we are already getting a better price for our pigs.

“Without Agrisgôp we would never have come together so we are grateful to Martyn for initiating it with Farming Connect and to Lilwen for pulling us all together.’’

Another member of the group, Ed Walker, also sees big value in collective marketing, that “strength in numbers’’.

“As eight producers we are on a par with commercial farmers as we can offer consistency of supply but we are still individual small producers too.’’

The businessman-turned-farmer produces around 600 pigs a year on an outdoor system at 46-acre Model Farm near Tenby.

His 22 breeding sows are a mixture of Large Whites crossed with a Welsh boar and Oxford Sandy and Blacks which he crosses to a Large White.

Keeping pigs started as hobby, alongside running his own civil engineering business, but it is now more or less a full-time job, with a part-time helper too.

Almost all his sales are through Red Dragon Porc Cyf although he is also licenced to sell meat from the farm as Tenby Woodland Pork.

Before the abattoir was established at Cilshafe, he would need to make a 150-mile round trip to the facility at Maesteg.

The next stage for the co-operative could be to establish a meat box scheme.

The throughput of pigs through the Lloyds’ abattoir, which also processes other livestock, will be small initially but that is projected to increase as sales gain momentum.

The facility has so far has created four full-time jobs and more could follow.

Picture caption:

Collaborating on pork marketing: Pictured from the left are Tom Young, Nic Caine, Martyn Lloyd, Ed Walker, Will Kerr and Lilwen Joynson