In Australia Irish rebel songs are sung in a variety of venues by a variety of artists. There are no hard and fast rules of engagement: in Townsville I have heard a Northern Irish protestant sing "Black and Tans" with gusto- he told me he liked the energy of the tune and knew nothing and cared less about the provenance of the lyrics! I have played with a group at an Irish club and be told to avoid anything partisan- particularly those songs that re-open wounds about the Irish Civil War such as "Take it down from the mast Irish Traitors" At The Henry Lawson Club in western Sydney we often play a mixture of Orange and Green songs and tunes- but we know our audience and even there we meet hostility from occasional patrons who have an alcohol-induced outrage at the balance and appropriateness of our material. An anecdote concerning "The Patriot Game" may be of interest to readers of this site: in the mid-sixties I hitch-hiked with my brother to the Donegal resort of Bundoran. Dominic Behan was in concert in a small church hall and he sang several songs he had written including "The Patriot Game". I was struck then by the difference between my circumstances (16 years old and looking for a good time in the dance-halls and pubs of Bundoran) and those of the subject of the song- Feargal O'Hanlon, killed, a teenager, in an attack on a border RUC post). Behan sang the song almost as a lament (which I have always felt is the right modality for the delivery of the song). Most versions I have heard since are rousing and keyed for pub singalong. I sang the song for the first time in years at a yuppie pub in Northwestern Sydney and encountered two reactions- "It's too damn slow!" and "Let's go, the bastards's singing an I.R.A. song." I guess it's just basic courtesy to introduce material that some will find offensive with a short preface that puts the artist's view of the material. If, given this context, offense is taken- so be it.