A unionist politician is claiming a musical victory after Aer Lingus removed rousing rebel songs from its entertainment programme on US flights.
Ulster Unionist Assembly member, Mr Roy Beggs jnr, was shocked to find ballads honouring Bobby Sands and the IRA listed in a transatlantic in-flight entertainment magazine earlier this month.
He tuned in to hear songs from ex-Wolfe Tones member, Mr Derek Warfield, including Ten Dead Men, Remember Bobby Sands, Volunteers of Ireland, Patriots of Erin, Fenian Volunteers and Fighting Irish.
"I was travelling from Dublin to a conflict resolution conference in Harvard University, Boston, with a party colleague," Mr Beggs jnr told The Irish Times.
"In this day and age, when much is made of human rights and equality issues, we were shocked to see this blatant promotion of militant, armed republicanism.
"Virtually everyone in Northern Ireland knows someone who has suffered during the course of the Troubles as a result of the actions of the so-called patriots Mr Warfield celebrates in his hate-filled ballads." On returning home, Mr Beggs jnr wrote to the chief executive of Aer Lingus, Mr Willie Walsh, demanding the removal of the "offensive material".
The reply, from Mr Walsh's office, stated: "It is certainly not our intention to cause offence to any of our passengers. On behalf of Aer Lingus, I apologise for any upset this caused you.
"We greatly appreciate all comments we receive from our customers and I am pleased you contacted us in this regard. It became clear to us that some of our customers could find some songs on this particular channel inappropriate and, for this reason, the channel was replaced earlier this month."
An Aer Lingus spokesman last night said the company had been made aware of the situation earlier and the songs had actually been removed before Mr Beggs's complaint was received.
While the UUP Assembly member was pleased with Aer Lingus's response, he said it was amazing it had made such a "mistake" in the first place.
"Considering this was a trans-atlantic flight to America, and the US and its allies have declared a 'War on Terror', this mistake is completely inexcusable."
An equivalent would be an Arabian airline playing extemist Arab speeches on its trans-atlantic flights, he added.