The owners of a Wexford pub have issued a public apology to a musician after refusing his request to play Irish rebel songs.
Luke Whitty saw all of his scheduled bookings at The Crown Bar in Wexford town cancelled as he did not want to remove rebel songs from his playlist.
The musician was scheduled to play songs like ‘Grace' and ‘Come Out Ye Black and Tans’ from his setlist.
"I was doing a two-hour set which is a mix of all kinds of music," Luke explained. “I had already played a few ballads, country music and even pop songs from Elton John and Miley Cyrus.
"A crowd from Dublin arrived in then and they asked me to play ‘Grace' and a few rebel songs which I did. I can’t even remember exactly what I played – ‘Come Out Ye Black and Tans' and 'Sam Song’ and that type of thing.
"The place was buzzing. It was a brilliant gig. I went home delighted and even told my parents it had been a great night.”
However, on Monday Luke received a call from management stating that they had received complaints.
“The manager rang and said that he appreciated the music over the last while, but he had two complaints on Saturday night over the rebel songs. I didn't know if he was having a joke or what.
"He said 'from here on out there can be no rebel songs’. I made the point that on Sunday nights in Kitty's (a sister pub next door also owned by The Crown), that's what people come to see me for.
"He said ‘you don’t understand me, there can be no more rebel songs’. He said that they were too controversial and could offend people. I told him ‘I’m a proud Irishman and nobody is going to tell me what I can and cannot sing’. He responded by saying that if those were my beliefs my gigs for the foreseeable future were no longer required.”
Luke took to social media to explain the situation after encouragement from his parents and his statement provoked a massive reaction.
The Crown Quarter, the parent company of The Crown Bar, issued its own statement in response. It said that The Crown Bar had not “banned rebel music” and that social media posts to that effect were “inaccurate.”
According to the Independent, the apology reads:
“Firstly, we would like to extend our sincere and full apology in relation to the phone call you had yesterday with one of our managers and the stance that was taken during this conversation," it said.
“The call was made in response to a customer complaint he received in relation to the nature of the music you were playing on the Saturday evening. The manager now fully appreciates he overreacted during the conversation, and he regrets the offence caused. Our intention and desire is to always provide an enjoyable atmosphere for both our customers and artists, at all times.
“We would love the opportunity to speak to you in person. We did try to reach out to you yesterday to apologise, clearly it was not our intention to cause any annoyance, but now fully understand how we did so.
“We have always enjoyed having you play in The Crown. This is unchanged. We value your loyalty and sincerely hope you will consider continuing to play in Crown Quarter in the future.”
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