the rebel rousers back in their '70s heyday

For 45 years they have been bashing out rabble-rousing tunes like 'The Rifles Of The IRA' and 'Go Home British Soldiers' but republican balladeers The Wolfe Tones have a new message for their fans: adopt a unionist.


"There is no future in violence," Wolfe Tone Brian Warfield said. "There can't be a united Ireland until the majority of people in Northern Ireland want it. So I would encourage every republican in the north of Ireland to adopt a unionist. Visit them in their homes and chat with them."


Warfield believes nationalist and loyalists have much in common. "Look at Martin McGuinness and Ian Paisley", he said.


"Of course, it doesn't always work because there might not be a total willingness on the other side to build bridges.


"I can tell you though that I've met people who've made contact with people on the other side and become firm friends."


The Wolfe Tones will find out just how much their music crosses the sectarian divide when they play one of their biggest gigs in Belfast in the Waterfront Hall on 26 October.


"We tell the story of Ireland in a multimedia show using 680 slides," Warfield said.


"Yes, we're Republicans but there is no one in the Republic who isn't a Republican and our songs were always heartfelt and well-constructed."


While The Wolfe Tones are all in favour of peace in Northern Ireland, a split in their own ranks following the departure of their frontman Derek Warfield eight years ago, is apparently "irreconcilable".


"There's more chance of a united Ireland than a united Wolfe Tones," said Brian Warfield, Derek's brother. "It was just a case that after 36 years together, we weren't getting on with Derek anymore and he wasn't getting on with us. So the three of us who did get on decided to keep playing together and Derek went off to do his own thing."


However, Derek Warfield, now touring with a band called The Young Wolfe Tones, claims politics was at the heart of the split.


"When the peace process was coming up, Joe Cahill of Sinn Féin asked me to help out, to let people know that something extraordinary was about to happen," he said. "That was resented by members of the band who didn't like me getting involved in politics."