A lot of Irish people aren’t too happy with Sir Bob Geldof.
The Boomtown Rats frontman criticised the leaders of the 1916 Irish Easter Rising for using tactics similar to those of jihadi suicide bombers, a statement that has caused uproar.
Sir Bob made his comments in Event magazine with the Mail on Sunday shortly after the country commemorated the 100th anniversary of the six-day rising against British rule.
He said: “They [the Irish rebels] started writing these letters [to be read afterwards] which show clearly they knew “The only thing that will come out of this is that we get shot, we get to be martyrs, that’ll spur another generation”.
“What’s admirable about that, if you also don’t admire the guy who’s just walked into Pakistan and blown up 73 people at a Christian carnival in Lahore? What’s the difference?”
He continued: “People say, ‘That’s outrageous, it’s not the same thing.’ Excuse me?”
The reaction to his comments was, to put it mildly, extremely negative. “Bob Geldof doesn’t use informed critical analysis when he forms opinions. That is all,” tweeted Limerick duo The Rubberbandits.
“Bob Geldof is no Irishman,” one online user wrote, while another said: “What an absolute disgusting and offensive excuse of a human being for comparing men who fought for their country’s independence to lunatics killing people for the sake of it!”
It’s hard to see him coming back from this one…
