I actually think they make the atmosphere worse.
Droning away in the corner with tedious dirge-like songs about Bobby Sands and Northern Ireland, relentlessly banging that fcking drum while the rest of the stadium sits in silence....it just heightens how poor the atmosphere is - and that's partly due to a couple of things; the unrelentingly boring nature of Scottish football and the poor football we are playing. Its often pretty hard to get excited watching a glorified training game where one team has to break down a 10 man defence. Totally different atmosphere on a euro night when the football is exciting and there is a genuine competition happening, on the field. Then the atmosphere is amazing.