How bad is Irish nationalism’s sectarian problem? In the somewhat Panglossian world occupied by nationalist and republican activists and politicians – boosted by recent census and election results – it doesn’t really feature in the discussion.

At the recent ‘Ireland’s Future’ conference in Dublin, attended by thousands of people, the grubby stuff – the legacy of the Troubles and all – barely featured amidst the hopeful mood music and good vibes. The sight of the Republic of Ireland’s women’s football team celebrating their World Cup qualification in Glasgow earlier this week with the pro-IRA chant of ‘Oh, Ah, Up the ‘RA” – a line taken from a Wolfe Tones song – struck a discordant tone.

A group of young women, born largely in the supposed golden era of the peace process, deciding the best way to celebrate their sporting triumph was to sing this song was strange. Have they not got better songs to sing given the Irish musical lexicon? Uefa, the inimitably useless regulator of European football, have begun an investigation and the Football Association of Ireland have apologised.

A grimly recurring feature of present day Ireland – north and south – is that young people of both persuasions continue to sing and do stupid, sectarian and crass things. Sport, particularly the rivalry outsourced to Scotland between Rangers and Celtic, continues to serve as a conduit for this sort of thing. Gaelic football, despite some effective PR, also continues to be blighted by casual sectarianism.

So in that sense, the jolting video footage from the Hampden changing room is not surprising. It is typical of an ingrained ignorance that no amount of peace processing seems able to shift. But what does it specifically say about the state of a political and cultural movement – allegedly engaging in a concerted effort of persuading unionists of its merits – that celebrating a group of terrorists has become part of its default party playlist?

The reaction from elements of Irish society was interesting, for all the wrong reasons. Rob Wotton, a Sky Sports News presenter, interviewing Irish player Chloe Mustaki was swiftly cast as the villain for having the temerity to ask if the situation ‘highlighted the need for education on issues like this’ amongst the Irish squad.

An Englishman having the audacity to talk about educating an Irish woman, given Albion’s many perfidies over the years, was seen by some as ‘problematic’. Having been on the receiving end of the IRA’s attentions – bombing pubs and shopping centres, that sort of thing – one can’t quite imagine why ‘the Brits’ might feel entitled to take a view.

How has this sanitising of a group which has killed and mutilated thousands of Irish people come around, to the extent they are now treated as some sort of kitsch cultural reference point? Could it have anything to do with the biggest party in the Republic being led by a woman who said there had been no alternative to IRA violence during the Troubles?

Michelle O’Neill, the Sinn Fein leader in Northern Ireland, responded to this week’s events by saying that since the FAI were investigating the matter ‘we should leave it at that’. Quite the shoulder shrug from someone who purports to be the ‘First Minister for all’ in Northern Ireland.

For victims of the IRA and unionists, if this manifestation of Irishness really is a taste of the early days of a supposedly better nation, it will be a distinctly unappetising prospect. Better minds and more courageous voices within Irish nationalism really must grasp the nettle and take this head on if they are serious about their referendum pretensions. That seems a forlorn hope given Sinn Fein’s increasing hegemony.

Celtic Symphony, the song which contains the offending lyric, has risen up the Irish music charts in recent days. Ireland’s young footballers are far from alone in being comfortable with this song. It seems that Ireland’s future remains fettered by its past and seemingly, people are ok with that.