ThisisBigBrother.com - UK TV Forums - We're Irish too but bigots are dragging our boy into this.

Quote:

We're Irish too but bigots are dragging our boy into this

THE father of X Factor star Eoghan Quigg last night blasted the “bigots” threatening his son’s dreams of stardom.

Diehard republicans claim the 16-year-old singer from Northern Ireland was “forced” to perform on the Help for Heroes single Hero in aid of wounded troops.

And they are urging a BOYCOTT of the track — set to hit No1 tomorrow.

But baby-faced Eoghan — one of the last nine acts on the ITV talent smash — has no interest in the centuries-old Irish conflict.

And dad Chris, 36, insisted: “He’s not a Republican. We are all nationalists — Irish not British. We’ve lived through all the Troubles. But Eoghan was born in 1992 — he’s far too young to know anything about this.

“He’s in a singing competition, that’s what’s important. I’m p***** off there are still small-minded bigots here.”

Chris added: “Part of this is because he’s a wee Catholic lad from Co Derry and some republicans are stirring it up. Some people just don’t want peace.”

Eoghan, of Dungiven, sings the opening lines on the H4H record and performed it live on X Factor last week.

But after he missed a Sun photocall with wounded soldiers, bitter sectarian rivals claimed his family kept him away as they don’t support Our Boys.

Dad Chris said: “Eoghan was sick on Monday. He drank out-of-date milk and it made him ill. That’s why he wasn’t in the pictures.

“I don’t agree with Iraq, but that’s nothing to do with it. This is for people who have lost limbs and lost their lives, whatever they were fighting for.

“They’ll probably need a lot of help for the rest of their lives and that’s fair enough. I’d a feeling there’d be trouble over this. We don’t want that. If the song is for the Army, so be it.”

Security experts fear schoolboy Eoghan is being dragged into the increasingly powderkeg relations between republicans and loyalists.

Republican Sinn Fein spokesman Richard Walsh said: “He’s been forced to perform a song tribute to those who have invaded Ireland, Afghanistan and Iraq, and countless other countries — and displaced and murdered the native populace.

“I would absolutely not encourage people to buy this record. This record encourages imperialism and colonialism and invasion. People should not spend money doing that.”

But Help for Heroes founder Bryn Parry said last night: “Help for Heroes is not about politics, it’s about the boys and girls who get wounded while serving their country and working with their mates.

“It would be a great shame if people tried to make something as good as the desire to help into something political for their own ends.”

Hero, a cover of Mariah Carey’s 1993 hit, can be downloaded online or bought for £3.99 as a CD single. Funds will be shared by the Sun-backed Help for Heroes charity and the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.

Dungiven Sinn Fein councillor Anne Brolly insisted her party had no political issue to make about Eoghan’s X Factor role. She said: “He has the 100 per cent support of everyone here.

“He is a very talented young man and a great ambassador for Ireland. The people here are fully behind him.”

Chris admitted X Factor bosses contacted the family after a complaint that T-shirts worn by family members on last Saturday’s show bore the name of a republican hunger striker.

Kevin Lynch was a member of the Irish National Liberation Army and fasted for 71 days at the Maze Prison before he died aged 25 in 1981.

Now ITV has urged the Quiggs NOT to wear the shirt on live TV again.

Chris, married to Denise and with two other sons, said: “We didn’t mean to offend anybody. Eoghan plays for a hurling club named after Lynch. But he doesn’t have political views.

“Eoghan’s career is more important to me than what happened years ago. The shirt won’t be worn this week.”

Last night an X Factor spokeswoman said: “All finalists were aware of the Help for Heroes campaign and supported production of the single.”

A show insider said: “It’s madness that Eoghan is caught up in this. He’s only 16 and everyone loves him as he’s so bright and sweet. We’re stunned cynics are trying to politicise him.”

ARMY chiefs yesterday cancelled a flypast amid fears that violence could mar a soldiers’ homecoming parade in Belfast tomorrow. Sinn Fein supporters and dissident republican factions are to stage protest demonstrations.

Source: The Sun