NICOLA Sturgeon has paid tribute to the “great dignity” of Hibs manager Neil Lennon after he spoke out about bigoted abuse.
Mr Lennon was struck by a coin during a match against Hearts on October 31.
He later condemned suggestions he had goaded fans, and insisted Scotland has a problem with anti-Irish racism.
He said: “You call it sectarianism here in Scotland, I call it racism.”
Speaking during First Minister’s Questions, Ms Sturgeon condemned the attack and said Scotland must be united in stamping out all forms of bigotry.
She said: “Let me say at the outset and unequivocally that I condemn the attack on Neil Lennon that took place last week. Of course that is a matter for the police to thoroughly investigate.
“I saw some of Neil Lennon’s press conference at the end of last week and thought he conducted himself with great dignity.
“Nobody should have to suffer the abuse and the attacks that he has had to suffer, and I’m sure all of us would agree with that.
“I unequivocally condemn anti-Catholic bigotry, anti-Irish racism – I condemn sectarianism in any shape or form.
“This Government will continue to take the action we need to take to ensure that Scotland is a country that demonstrates zero tolerance of any of that kind of bigotry.
“Whatever your footballing loyalties, or whether you don’t have any footballing loyalties, that kind of conduct has no place in modern Scotland, and all of us must unite to make that absolutely crystal clear.”
The First Minister was responding to a question from Scottish Labour MSP James Kelly, who branded the attacks on Neil Lennon “wholly unacceptable”.
Addressing the media last week, Mr Lennon said he was “fed up” of the bigoted abuse he had endured in Scotland.
The former Celtic manager said: “If a black man is abused, you are not just abusing the colour of his skin, you are abusing his culture, his heritage, his background.
“It’s the exact same when I get called a Fenian, a pauper, a beggar, a tarrier.
“These people with the sense of entitlement or superiority complex. And all I do is stand up for myself.
“I’ve been subjected to this for 18 years. I’m 47, I’m fed up of it. I’m the manager of Hibs now and I’m still getting it.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel