I AM a member of the Unite trade union. I have seen the James Larkin Band march in four parades, the latest being in Liverpool last year for the 100th anniversary of the Belfast workers’ strike.

I have never heard any IRA chanting nor seen them being followed by “drunken football hooligans”. To associate the James Larkin Band with backing IRA atrocities is totally unjust.

We must not forget the Birmingham Six and Guildford Four, who were also wrongly labelled as IRA supporters, with far worse consequences for them. Has nothing changed?

In Northern Ireland there is a peace process that the great James Larkin himself would have been proud of. Long may it continue.

I look forward to welcoming the band back to my home town of Huddersfield.

Joe Hill

Marsh