“Come Out Ye Black and Tans” tops Irish and British iTunes

The Wolfe Tones' "Come Out Ye Black and Tans" has shot to the top of the iTunes charts in both Ireland and the UK in the wake of the RIC commemoration controversy in Dublin.

“Come Out Ye Black and Tans” by The Wolfe Tones has topped both the Irish and British iTunes charts this week in the wake of the controversy surrounding the now “deferred” commemoration to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) in Dublin.

On Irish iTunes, three versions of The Wolfe Tones’ “Come Out Ye Black and Tans” cracked the top ten singles chart taking first, second, and seventh places as of January 9:

The Irish rebel band’s album “At Their Very Best Live” has also topped the best selling albums chart in Ireland:

On the United Kingdom’s iTunes charts, “Come Out Ye Black and Tans” from the group’s “At Their Very Best Live” is also in the number one position as of January 9:

Their album "At Their Very Best Live" has also reached number 24 on the UK iTunes charts:

On Twitter, the decades-old group shared the news:

Make th,at No. 1 Ireland & Britain :-)
— The Wolfe Tones 🇮🇪 (@wolfetones) January 9, 2020

The popular Irish rebel song has seen a meteoric boost in popularity in the wake of the controversy surrounding a planned RIC / DMP commemoration in Dublin for January 17, which was ultimately “deferred” by the Irish government after scores of Irish politicians as well as members of the public denounced the event.

Speaking with The Irish Sun, Brian Warfield, singer for The Wolfe Tones, said: “The Black and Tans were always crafty.

“They’ll be back, and when they do, we’ll be waiting for them outside singing loud and proud ‘Come out, ye Black and Tans, come out and fight me like a man’.”

“The RIC were never a police force for the people of Ireland. They only existed as a militia to suppress the Irish people.

“If you go back to Famine times, the RIC assisted in getting the food out of Ireland while the natives starved, and to shoot anyone who held onto food.

“The Royal Irish Constabulary and Dublin Metropolitan Police were the eyes and ears of Dublin Castle. None of their senior commanders were Catholics, only the enforcers they used on the streets.”

Warfield added: “While it was great news that the Blueshirts cancelled their Black and Tan commemoration with the help of people power surely we should be able to build enough pressure on them over months or however long it takes to stop them letting Shannon be used as a military base for an imperialist army.”

You can listen to “Come Out Ye Black and Tans” by The Wolfe Tones here: