Wolfe Tones music at Orange march sees driver fined

The man was fined for playing Wolfe Tones music while passing Orange supporters

Playing Irish rebel music as he passed an Orange parade has landed a Londonderry motorist a suspended three-month prison sentence and a £250 fine.

Sean Johnston, 27, of Holymount Park, admitted behaviour likely to cause a breach of the peace and disorderly behaviour on 13 July last year.

He was arrested after driving past parade supporters on Spencer Road, while loudly playing Wolfe Tones music.

District Judge Barney McElholm said it was a "seriously stupid action".

He said that if there was such a thing as "a good time and good place" to play music by the Wolfe Tones, it was not during Orange Order parades.

Formed in 1963 the Dublin band are named in honour of Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the leaders of the 1798 United Irishmen rebellion.

In 2002 their recording of A Nation Once Again, written in the 1840s in support of the fight to end British rule in Ireland, topped a BBC World Service poll as the world's favourite.

Other releases by the group include Rifles of the IRA and Up the Rebels.