Wolfe Tones celebrate after Come Out Ye Black and Tans tops charts in Ireland

THE Wolfe Tones have been celebrating after topping the iTunes chart — in both ­Ireland and Britain.

Singer Brian Warfield, 73, and bandmates Tommy Byrne, and Noel Nagle, both 75, were astonished to learn their song Come Out Ye Black and Tans had outsold Stormzy and Dua Lipa in digital sales across Britain.

The song shot back up the charts ­following the controversy over the Dublin Castle commemoration to the Royal Irish Constabulary.

Brian told the Irish Sun: “The mad thing is last year we considered winding it up after I got diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, but we decided we’d just keep going. I’m glad we did now.”

The ballad group — together since the mid-Sixties — said reaching No1 on UK iTunes with Come Out Ye Black and Tans was particularly satisfying in the Tans' home country.

Brian said: “There can be no hiding place for the Black and Tans . . . the crimes they committed.

"What they did in Ireland should never be forgotten.

“Kids in British schools are taught absolutely nothing about what Britain did in Ireland.

SONG IS "IRISH HISTORY LESSON"

"This song from the Wolfe Tones is an Irish history lesson for them — and a bloody popular one.”

Fuelled by the fall-out from abandoned Government plans to commemorate the Royal Irish Constabulary and Dublin Metropolitan Police, Come Out Ye Black and Tans had already hit number one on Irish iTunes.

But Brian was shocked to start getting calls from fans in the UK telling him the song was doing well on British iTunes.

Brian recounted: “First I heard, it was in the top 100, then it was in the top 20, then late on Wednesday I was told it was number one.

"When I got up yesterday morning, it was still number one on UK iTunes, and still selling.”

UK music fans curious about the track googled it and found a video clip of comedian Steve Coogan, playing Irish farmer Martin Brennan, singing Come Out Ye Black and Tans on BBC comedy This Time last year.

Brian said: “Once they hear the Steve Coogan version, then they want to hear our original and they buy it.”

The Inchicore-born man added: “Hating the Black and Tans is in the DNA of the Irish diaspora around the world.”

Source: thesun.ie