Why Do The Irish Not Love Bono?

For over three and a half decades U2 were one of the biggest bands in the world. You could argue with the band in their mid fifties and without a decent record in years, that they are pretty much done. Having said that the most valuable company in the world ever (Apple) still used them to launch their latest flagship device, the iPhone 6. Despite packing stadiums all over the world, selling 10s of millions of albums, and helping put Ireland and Dublin on the map, you would hardly know the band were from here walking the streets of Dublin. An article in a Canadian newspaper summed it up better than I ever could…

So why don’t we celebrate Bono and the lads? Bono spends loads of time championing the city from mentioning Dublin in countless songs to being wheeled out by the IDA to help attract inward investment. Is it really just because of the tax elephant in the room? Are we really that much of a nation of begrudgers that we can’t even celebrate one of the biggest things to come out of Dublin?

Maybe we just don’t have the same culture of celebrity over here and shouldn’t that be applauded in the X Factor era? Any other city in the world would have the airport named after the lads, bus tours parking outside their mansions and Bono burgers being sold on every corner. As the article says maybe it is actually “Bono is a pox” but in a country so famous for it’s music it really is remarkable how little we celebrate U2.

In typical Irish fashion Dublin will probably remember it’s most famous sons with a nice statue down in docks of the lads looking quiet and demure. I, for one, think we should be doing a little more. Maybe not to the level Liverpool is associated with the Beatles but something along those lines. Every little helps in terms of attracting tourists and putting ourselves on the map and for many in Brazil, South Africa or America the only link they might have with our city is U2, we should leverage it a little more surely?

Enjoy U2’s best moment in Dublin…