There is a proper debate to be had about which chants should and should not be permitted inside Scotland's football grounds. That forms part of a progressive society. It is worth remembering that those venues are considerably more welcoming environments than even 20 years ago, yet unacceptable conduct remains.
Unsurprisingly, this week's scrutiny of Celtic has been muddied by misuse of language and a lack of comprehension about the issue at hand. From some quarters, that is as deliberate as it is predictable.
Celtic's supporters may yet be cleared of "illicit chanting" when Uefa's control and disciplinary panel meets on 8 December – a charge which relates to Rennes' visit to Parkhead earlier this month. It would be wholly unwise to prejudge the Uefa outcome.
What the European governing body's focus on the Scottish club has done, however, is turn the spotlight back on that element of the Celtic support who continue to indulge in archaic, embarrassing chanting in support of the IRA. And they do exist, as people who attend Celtic fixtures regularly will testify.
Short of going to extreme lengths, the size of that group is impossible to quantify. What is certain is that Celtic Park is far from the hotbed of pro-terrorist support which the club's enemies would like to portray it as. It is Celtic's away following which is more prone to vocal IRA backing, and even then on varying scales.
Such attitudes are frowned upon by the decent element of the Celtic support, let alone the good people of Ireland who would shake their heads at such sentiment booming out from Tynecastle to Tannadice.
Celtic are rightly proud of their Irish heritage. There should be no problem with the club celebrating that. Nor does that, in any way, represent sectarian behaviour.
Songs such as the Fields of Athenry or the Irish national anthem should cause no offence to any reasonably minded person. By the same token, those who froth at the mouth when spotting national flags – be they Irish or British – shouldn't be allowed out of their house in the morning, let alone near a football ground.
The consistent "Ooh ah, up the 'RA" message from stands housing Celtic fans isn't directly sectarian either. But it is clearly offensive, unnecessary and – certainly contextually – wrong. By Scots law, it may not be illegal either; yet football's sanctions do, as they should, operate differently from that of wider society.
In 2011, it is a nonsense that such a chant has been allowed to continue inside stadiums, one of its very few remaining environments. Would it be such a hardship to ditch these five words for Celtic's wider betterment?
Those who believe it would are making their best attempts at creating diversions. Irrelevant questions arise: "Who landed Celtic in it?", "What is their agenda?", "Why no focus on clubs in other countries/cities [delete as appropriate]?" In the Old Firm environment, opposition obsession triggers a daily, totally tedious, chorus of "But what about them?" The depressing thing is that plenty of those involved are smart enough to know better.
There are even ludicrous efforts made to draw distinctions between different historic forms of the IRA itself; as if such points of reference are at the forefront of the minds of those who are sing "Up the 'RA" rather than "Up the Celts", as the proper lyrics read.
Strathclyde police have been criticised for having the temerity to point out IRA verse to match delegates. Yet anyone who has paid even slight attention in recent weeks will have noted a tightening up across Scotland of policing of football supporters who allegedly behave in an offensive manner. In Dunfermline, Edinburgh and Glasgow, more visibly vehement policing has been in operation. Just because arrests are not made at the time of an incident, that doesn't mean the police have ignored it.
Sceptics would suggest the strong challenge of Celtic fans to proposed legislation about offensive behaviour at games results from the realisation that the most overt pro-IRA material will be outlawed. Any unpalatable agenda would be a shame; the challenge of football fans throughout Scotland towards that very bill actually has plenty of admirable points.
An unattributed quote from a Celtic source, in relation to Uefa's case, at the weekend read: "This is quite unprecedented as no issues were raised to the club during the match and the police didn't inform us directly about their concerns."
No denial of a problem, no admission that there even is one, despite the fact that the Celtic manager and chief executive have already publicly spoken out against it. Instead, a heavily implied questioning of the circumstances.
It is a dubious, schoolboy stance. The very one, in fact, for which Rangers have rightly been condemned in the past when Uefa took action against the sectarian chanting of their fans. The blunt reality is that Uefa is not interested in finger-pointing or accusations of agenda; it will deal with issues as and when they are put in front of it.
Such veiled comments also appeal to the lowest denominator of football fans, who will greatly enjoy a witch-hunt and sense of persecution. The more adult among them should realise that something which could land the club, one they presumably care about, in trouble is better off avoided.
Today, and more impressively, Neil Lennon has reiterated his stance. "We have our own values and traditions but they do not include these chants," said Celtic's manager. "We don't want them at matches and they must stop."
Celtic are quite right to seek clarity about which songs could lead to them being punished. They surely know, nonetheless, that an elimination of the most common one would be a good place to start. Nowadays, they hardly need a map, compass and photo ID kit to determine who sits where at their matches.
Straight-talking also this week arrived from Paul McBride, a leading Scottish advocate and high-profile Celtic supporter. McBride is prone to loose language where Scottish football is concerned – as was this case again, as he erroneously attempted to drag Hibernian into the IRA songs debate – but spoke sensibly about the Celtic problem.
McBride said: "To be fair to Celtic, they do have, generally, a very good reputation with their fans in Europe.
"But we can't ignore the fact that, for a number of years, there have been a small section of the Parkhead crowd who sing songs about the IRA and the provisional IRA and they dress it up by saying that it's political and not religious and it's not sectarian.
"But it misses the point entirely. It is offensive. What do you say to a 10-year-old child who asks his father why people are singing about killers at a football game?"
Laughably, the Scottish Premier League came out in condemnation of both sectarian and pro-IRA chanting after Uefa's intrigue became public. There was even the suggestion that the SPL could impose a penalty on account of singing at Celtic's league meeting with Hibs. Don't put the kettle on for that one.
It is worth recalling that Scotland's football authorities have struggled to pay even lip service to problem chants in the past. They don't want to know. And they certainly don't want to penalise. It is to their continued embarrassment that Uefa takes it upon itself to wade in.
"The Billy Boys" has been eliminated from the standard Rangers repertoire since Uefa took action against the Ibrox club. Regardless of what happens in Nyon on 8 December, it would be a benefit to everyone – those of the hard of thinking aside – if focus on the other half of Glasgow doesn't at least lead to one item being consigned to a songbook history bin.