Singer trolled after asking right-wing protesters not to use his song

Welsh folk singer Dafydd Iwan says he has received "very personal" and "nasty" comments after urging organisers of a right-wing protest to stop using his song Yma o Hyd.

The 40-year-old anthem, celebrating Wales' survival and recently popular with Wales football fans, was used by Wrexham Unite in a social media video promoting an anti-immigration protest.

On Monday, Iwan posted on X saying he does not support the group's "hate-driven campaign" and had not given permission for his song to be used. He added that while he cannot "physically stop them", he wanted people to know they are misusing it.

Wrexham Unite said it was "proud that Wales is our home, and proud of our culture and country".

Iwan, who is originally from Brynamman, Carmarthenshire, was referring to a march which took place in Wrexham city centre on Saturday.

Organised by several groups including Wrexham Unite, the protest was part of a campaign opposing housing up to 70 asylum seekers at Plas yn Rhos, an abandoned assisted living facility in Rhosllanerchrugog, near Wrexham.

Earlier this month about 500 people attended a meeting in the village to raise questions about the proposal.

But on Tuesday, Wrexham council confirmed that it had been advised by the Home Office that the property will not be used for this and the plans were scrapped.

Despite this, on Facebook, Wrexham Unite said it was still going to protest as it believes the Home Office will "probably" continue to try and get permission to use Plas yn Rhos to house asylum seekers.

Similarly, in June 2023, Iwan, called on protesters to stop using Yma o Hyd in opposition to housing asylum seekers at the Stradey Park Hotel in Carmarthenshire.

After months of protest, the Home Office scrapped the controversial plans in October, saying it was "working hard to reduce the unacceptable use of hotels by moving asylum seekers into alternative, cheaper accommodation".

In an interview with BBC Wales on Tuesday, Iwan explained how he strongly disagreed with the anti-immigration stance of certain groups in Wales and wanted to fully "dissociate" from what he described as the "dangerous" stirring of hatred.

"I can't physically stop them from using my song," Iwan, who is a former president of Plaid Cymru, said.

"But I want people to know that they're not using it with my permission, and that they are mixing two very different things."

Originally recorded in the early 1980s, Iwan said Yma o Hyd is a powerful anthem about Wales' "survivability and the fact that Wales and the language and our culture and our integrity as a nation has survived despite all the odds".

"It springs from a love for our own country and our own culture," Iwan said.

"But that doesn't mean we have to do it with hatred toward anyone else."

Iwan explained that defending Welsh identity has "nothing to do with stopping immigrants or asylum seekers".

He noted that since publishing his post, he had faced backlash, adding that it "seems many of them are from sources you cannot detect".

"What has come into the political debate in the past few years is this personal nastiness, because it's driven by hate of people who are different to us, and that's really degraded the political discussion in Wales and other countries," Iwan said.

"But I think we must stand up, and say what we believe and not be afraid of these people who are driven by negative politics.

Wrexham Unite told the BBC it stands "united to defend our families from politicians who have made the decision, without asking us, to turn Wales into a Nation of Sanctuary".

"We will not ignore the danger that the Senedd and Westminster politicians have caused by sending illegal economic migrants to live across Wales," the group said, adding they would continue to protest.