Irish-language rap trio Kneecap have won their case against new Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch after she blocked an arts grant to the band citing anti-British politics.
They took Badenoch, then business secretary, to court in the summer and at a hearing in Belfast’s high court, the new government said the refusal of £14,250 in funding was “unlawful”, agreeing to release the money and pay Kneecap’s costs.
Lead band member DJ Próvaí, whose real name is JJ Ó Dochartaigh, turned up at court wearing his trademark tricolour balaclava and arriving in a mock police Land Rover bearing a Palestinian and Irish flag.
To the mirth of onlookers in court, Mr Justice Scoffield said he was happy to hear there had been a settlement, wishing all sides well with a cheerful Go Raibh Maith Agat, Irish language for thank you.
DJ Próvaí told reporters outside that the case was “never about money” but about equality of expression for all sides in Northern Ireland, as guaranteed in the Good Friday agreement.
The trio are known for imagery and lyrics that use and subvert republican tropes, including the 2019 hit Get Your Brits Out, a play on the “Brits out” mantra of the IRA, and once depicted then-prime minister Boris Johnson on a rocket. The group is named after the Troubles-era paramilitary tactic of targeting knees in so-called punishment attacks.
“Today we will send the full amount awarded to two organisations in Belfast who will work with the two communities to create a better future for our young people,” he said, naming Glór na Móna, which promotes Irish language activities and culture, and R-City Belfast, which offers personal and social development for young people.
In a statement the band hit out against the then Conservative government, expressing cross-community belief that London ignores the needs of working classes on both sides in Northern Ireland: “They don’t like that we oppose British rule, that we don’t believe that England serves anyone in Ireland and the working classes on both sides of the community deserve better; deserve funding, deserve appropriate mental health services, deserve to celebrate music and art and deserve the freedom to express our culture.
“They didn’t like the fact that we are totally opposed to all they represent, embodied right now by their arming of genocide in Gaza. What they did was a fascist type action, an attempt to block art that does not agree with their views after an independent body made a decision. Their own courts have now found in Kneecap’s favour, as we knew they would. They have tried to silence us and they have failed,” the band added.
The UK’s Department for Business and Trade said it would no longer be contesting the case and that it agreed the original decision had been “unlawful and procedurally unfair”.
In 2023 the Belfast group applied for a grant from the Music Export Growth Scheme, an independent government-backed arts initiative that provides funding to promote artists overseas. The British Phonographic Industry approved the application.
In June it emerged that the Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport oversee the scheme, and that business secretary, Badenoch, had rescinded the funding. A government spokesperson said it did not want to give taxpayers’ money to “people that oppose the United Kingdom itself”.
Kneecap’s solicitor, Darragh Mackin, said: “Kneecap continue to lead by example in practising what they preach. Not only do they sing about cearta (rights), but today they have shown they will even hold the British government itself to account to protect them.”
The band closed their statement advocating for a free Palestine. On 13 December, Kneecap will perform at the Gig for Gaza at the O2 Academy Brixton in London alongside Paul Weller, Primal Scream, Paloma Faith and Liam Bailey.
