Why bash band that swept the world stage?

IN his article (January 31), Hugh Tynan asks whether it’s “unpatriotic to hate U2?”

The answer is most definitely no. We are all perfectly entitled to our own opinions on music and people in public life.

My problem is that Mr Tynan is taking part in a pastime that is very popular in Ireland: U2-bashing.

Nobody forces any of us to like U2, or Bono for that matter. The fact is U2 are the biggest band in the world today.

They have achieved this through 30 years of hard graft. They continue to release original and relevant music after all those years. The are also well capable of holding their own against more recent acts like Coldplay, The Killers and Kings of Leon.

I fully expect U2 to continue long after these acts have faded away.

Yes, I am a big U2 fan. Yes, it makes me feel proud to be Irish when I see how popular U2 are around the world. I also feel they deserve huge credit for helping to put Ireland, and Dublin in particular, on the world entertainment map.

I look forward to the next time they play in Dublin and I will gladly take part in the “ticket-gouging frenzy” that Mr Tynan refers to. Nobody forces us to like U2 or the man in the platform shoes. But credit where it’s due, please.

Eoin O’Donnell

Grange

Clonmel

Co Tipperary