Bono and begrudgery

Robsweezie

is it the case that all of our famous irish are genuine twats, or does the problem lie with us and our begrudgery? bono has gotten a lot of stick off us over the years for dodging tax, and nobody praises him for any of his humanitarian efforts. bono bashing is like a national pastime. not fond of him either to be honest.

and its the same for the other 'celebrities'' and personalities. anyone who works for RTE, presents a certain tv or radio show, or was in a band, successful models, journalists, there seems to be blatant hostility towards anyone who has earned a bit of money and a name for themselves. ''ah that gob****e off out of westlife, what a tool'' '' who's that stuck up bitch, look at her, what a nobody''

in my opinion the irish mentality is that we enjoy tearing these people down often to feel better about ourselves, there has to be some deep rooted jealousy to this also. its like a universal thing where nobody in the public eye is safe. as a country i think we don't ''do'' celebrity culture the way it is in America with the advent of paparazzi and TMZ, and so we dismiss the likes of bono, westlife singers,, Kathryn Thomas, ryan rubridy, ray darcy, bressie and the like as ''rich pricks with notions''

have you any time for personalities like these? do they deserve the reactions they get from the public?

keeponhurling

Bono is a special case.

Preaches to others about donating money, including the government, and then does all he can to avoid paying tax.

Surely you can see how that would annoy people ?

strelok

doesn't everybody do all they can do to avoid paying tax?

Trudiha

No, it's all about Bono being a little bollix.

afatbollix

I heard he made the biggest turd in the world.

Collie D

A counterpoint to suggestions that people dislike Bono because of Irish begrudgery: How often do you hear people give out about The Edge, Larry or Adam?

GreatDefector

Collie D wrote: »

How often do you hear about The Edge, Larry or Adam?

FYP

darkpagandeath

strelok wrote: »

doesn't everybody do all they can do to avoid paying tax?

Standing up on stage in town in that economic forum going on about how Irish people stood together. Having most of your business tax sheltered does come off as a tad hypocritical. And tax avoidance is illegal. Minimizing your tax is not.

fleet_admiral

Hes a short arse and a bit of a wanker but come on, give the man a break

darkpagandeath

fleet_admiral wrote: »

Hes a short arse and a bit of a wanker but come on, give the man a break

A TAX break ? :pac:

kneemos

Collie D wrote: »

A counterpoint to suggestions that people dislike Bono because of Irish begrudgery: How often do you hear people give out about The Edge, Larry or Adam?

Bono plays the publicity game in fairness.
Think his heart is in the right place . Couldn't fault him for his efforts in the developing world.

There are lots of rich people in the public eye that don't get ridiculed,mostly the annoying ones that do.

ancapailldorcha

Nothing wrong with being rich and successful.

Being a hypocrite who sees fit to pontificate and dictate to people on how to live their lives while hoarding wealth? Different matter entirely.

I can't stand Bono. It amused me no end when Apple gave that U2 album away for free and then had to issue an update to enable people to delete it after that odious cretin had a go at people for downloading music illegally.

suicide_circus

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!

Hello Hello!

mzungu

He comes across as a decent sort. Don't get the extreme hate thrown in his direction, he hasn't done anything to deserve it.

Baggy Trousers

I like Bono.

I have always liked Bono.

I will probably always like Bono.

and I have never been to a U2 concert. I might go some day.

Halloween Jack

This article pretty much sums him up for me:

http://thequietus.com/articles/16217-bono-u2-songs-of-experience

gormdubhgorm

[

keeponhurling wrote: »

Bono is a special case.

Preaches to others about donating money, including the government, and then does all he can to avoid paying tax.

Surely you can see how that would annoy people ?

I could not agree with this more. I also get the impression that many "undesirable" despot type leaders use Bono for publicity. Bono does not even seem to realise that he is being used as a pawn.
A filthy rich Rock Star playing the humanitarian is really annoying.
Third world Debt and politics are not his area of expertise; song writing and singing are his forte.
It is not even the equivalent of Bono playing the drums in U2 instead of Larry Mullen. It is Bono sh*ting on about a problem he knows very little about. It is also a problem caused by colonial past and poor governance by those in third world countries. Yet he thinks that poncing around the world with his shades on makes a difference. It is more of an ego thing on his part.

Bono is by no means the only celebrity to pontificate about issues beyond their areas of expertise. But it is even worse that the pontificator is one of our own. A Northside Dub and an Irishman.


Irish people in general do not fawn over celebrities like in other countries (For example the USA).

Even when Bertie Ahern was Taoiseach (in his pomp) I remember when you could hear a roar "Bertie Ya B*llix" at a Dublin match in Parnell Park. I doubt that type of irreverence would happen as casually in other countries.
In summary - The majority of Irish people do not fawn over celebrities (teenagers excluded) I do not think it is the Irish nature to do so. And if Bono just stuck to his day job he would not be seen as "a great frontman.... but a bit of a knob" character he is now.:D

NorthStars

keeponhurling wrote: »

Bono is a special case.

Preaches to others about donating money, including the government, and then does all he can to avoid paying tax.

Think how the yanks feel when our government lure their companies here by prostituting Ireland as a tax haven.
U2 only avail of the same deals in Holland etc that Irish government policy is based on when touting for MNC's.
Everyone will opt to pay less tax wherever possible.

KingBrian2

His band makes millions of people around the world happy and he donates to various causes. I say he is entitled to make general observations about how people live their lives. He appeared at a George W Bush event and received their full attention, that is very good as his opinions count for something. More wealthy people could do the same, using their money and their status to fight for just causes and to be fair to them a lot do unlike another wealthy celebrity Donald Trump.

4zn76tysfajdxp

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

But it is even worse that the pontificator is one of our own. A Northside Dub and an Irishman.

A salt o'de eart Dub.

Irish Guitarist

Bono is alright. I liked when he sang I Got You Babe with his wife Cher.

Ayls

Can't stand the man/ego. For a so called "Humanitarian" there wasn't a whisper from him about the slaughter of thousands of innocents in Gaza and I'm still shocked that when Bill Clinton was trying to decide whether or not to grant Martin McGuiness a visa he actually phoned Bono for advice ! And if that's not bad or crazy enough Bono told him, No don't allow him in !! Err Bono, Martin McGuiness was trying to make peace in Ireland so perhaps it would have been the wise thing to not try and stand in the way of that. Not that Bono was ever effected by war or his future depended on peace or not. Seriously who the heck did Bono think he was. Why do people who are fortunate enough to become wealthy beyond their wildest dreams start to believe they are Gods ?

Robsweezie

Irish Guitarist wrote:

Bono is alright. I liked when he sang I Got You Babe with his wife Cher.

Cher! Such a legend! I loved smooth criminal and you are not alone, shame we lost her so young shamoneee

galljga1

afatbollix wrote: »

I heard he made the biggest turd in the world.

I think that was his mother.

suicide_circus

Irish Guitarist wrote: »

Bono is alright. I liked when he sang I Got You Babe with his wife Cher.

and the time he died in that skiing accident

wendell borton

As a young lad he was in a surrealist street gang that used Latin, that's hipsterism turned up to 11

NachoBusiness

I reckon if Bono was tall everyone would love him

lizzyman

Robsweezie wrote: »

is it the case that all of our famous irish are genuine twats, or does the problem lie with us and our begrudgery? bono has gotten a lot of stick off us over the years for dodging tax, and nobody praises him for any of his humanitarian efforts. bono bashing is like a national pastime. not fond of him either to be honest.

and its the same for the other 'celebrities'' and personalities. anyone who works for RTE, presents a certain tv or radio show, or was in a band, successful models, journalists, there seems to be blatant hostility towards anyone who has earned a bit of money and a name for themselves. ''ah that gob****e off out of westlife, what a tool'' '' who's that stuck up bitch, look at her, what a nobody''

in my opinion the irish mentality is that we enjoy tearing these people down often to feel better about ourselves, there has to be some deep rooted jealousy to this also. its like a universal thing where nobody in the public eye is safe. as a country i think we don't ''do'' celebrity culture the way it is in America with the advent of paparazzi and TMZ, and so we dismiss the likes of bono, westlife singers,, Kathryn Thomas, ryan rubridy, ray darcy, bressie and the like as ''rich pricks with notions''

have you any time for personalities like these? do they deserve the reactions they get from the public?

Don't know who Bressie is but none of the highlighted have an ounce of talent between them. We need less of these clowns and more of the likes of Phil Lynott, Van Morrison, Peter O'Toole, Daniel Day-Lewis, Brendan Gleeson, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, Yeats, Beckett etc. When I see Bono listed as one of the great Irish people of all time I just cringe.

darkpagandeath

lizzyman wrote: »

Don't know who Bressie is but none of the highlighted have an ounce of talent between them. We need less of these clowns and more of the likes of Phil Lynott, Van Morrison, Peter O'Toole, Daniel Day-Lewis, Brendan Gleeson, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, Yeats, Beckett etc. When I see Bono listed as one of the great Irish people of all time I just cringe.

Would be an English man :pac:

lizzyman

darkpagandeath wrote: »

Would be an English man :pac:

Born in England to an Irish woman, brought up in Crumlin and held an Irish passport. I think we can safely consider him Irish.

darkpagandeath

lizzyman wrote: »

Born in England to an Irish woman, brought up in Crumlin and held an Irish passport. I think we can safely consider him Irish.

Fair enough, But that does not change the place of birth. not that it really matters :P same with DD as well.

anto9

Bono is a thurd .(His mother produced the biggest Thurd in the World ) .I dislike the way he licked the arse off Bush and Tony Blair .(two of the biggest mass murderers in the Word,in recent times) .His Ego is off the scale .Advising Clinton on Martin McGuinness shows how much up his own arse he is .
Its not brudgery on my part as i like Bob Geldorf .

pappyodaniel

Bono is a bit douchey alright but he genuinely seems to be an alright sort, good heart on him I'd say.

rockey4215

I like Bonobos, but I prefer Adam Claytwothousandpounds, the spiritual monk of the band U2.

anto9

rockey4215 wrote: »

I like Bonobos, but I prefer Adam Claytwothousandpounds, the spiritual monk of the band U2.

I dislike Adam (who dosent have a clue of how many millions he really has .His house keeper stole about 2 M from him and he only found out by chance ) The Edge is also a nasty little bitch .:D..Their early music ,about 20 plus years ago was brilliant ,but the music muse has since left them dry .