Jon Bon Jovi’s Orangemen-beat-up-Bono-gaffe sparks U2 ‘alternative facts’ trend

In an interview with US-based Armchair Expert podcast, Bon Jovi discussed topical song writing in the context of his own childhood, noting that he had not had to endure what he falsely believed was the sectarian threat in the upbringing of the U2 front man.

“Bono is probably right at my age, he’s a couple of months older I think. His upbringing was obviously very different than mine,” Bon Jovi said.

“I never had the Orangemen walking through my neighbourhood saying, you know, get the Catholic kid and beat him up.

“You know I didn’t have any of that kind of turmoil in suburban New Jersey when you had a wonderful middle class upbringing with two hard working parents. So of course you’re writing the happy anthemic song.”

Bono actually grew up in a quiet suburb in Dublin, a city in which republicans have repeatedly blocked Orangemen from parading in, but the outlandish claims have been widely welcomed across the political spectrum on social media as hilarious light relief in the midst of downbeat global news.

Bono - or Paul Hewson - grew up in Finglas, north Dublin, with a Catholic father and Protestant mother. He attended the multi-denominational Mount Temple secondary school and reportedly attended Church of Ireland services growing up.

But inspired by the gaffe, Joe Passmore was one of many who tweeted tongue-in-cheek alternative facts about the Dublin band. 

He said that U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr “learnt to play the drums in the Artane Protestant Boys band... Bono saw him marching by in one of the Loyalist parades on St Patrick’s Day and signed him up for U2.” He added that U2 guitarist ‘The Edge’ got his nickname from “painting Kerbstones red, white and blue”.

Not to be outdone, Louise Deery offered a little known ‘fact’ - that U2’s ‘Unforgettable Fire’ album was written by Dubliner Bono after he was burnt out of Bombay Street in west Belfast, presumably during the historic rioting of 1969.

The ‘Earl of Leuven’ went one further, and tweeted a photo of Orangemen pressing on police lines, apparently during a Drumcree protest. He suggested this was an “Actual stock image of orange men spotting Bono on the street” the day after iTunes controversially uploaded a new U2 album to all account holders without their permission.

‘Higgins Cartoons’ also offered that it was “well documented how in 1973 the Orange Order deviated from their usual march route, taking a hard right at St Patrick’s Chapel, to continue over 100 miles to Finglas in Dublin, specifically to give the young Bono a beating he wouldn’t forget”.

The entire matter was perhaps best summed by ‘Patrick’ however: “..less you know ..more you believe” he said.  

But others thought there were also serious lessons to be learnt from the story.

Author of ‘The Faithful Tribe’, her own exploration of Orangeism, Ruth Dudley Edwards said that as a Dubliner who used to visit her boyfriend’s family in Finglas, Bono was “in as much danger of coming across an violent Orangeman as he was of experiencing a meteor attack”. 

She added: “The relentless IRA demonisation of the loyal orders gave virtue signallers a minority they were licensed to hate. As I’m sure Bono would agree, Mr Jovi’s comments are eejity.”

Orange historian Quincey Dougan expressed frustration at the “once prominent” rock star’s remarks.

“Unfortunately the false narrative spouted by Jon Bon Jovi is one all too common not just across the United States, but even much closer to home,” he said.

“Addressed purely factually it is of course total nonsense to any even simple student of Irish history. The last procession by Dublin Orangemen, a small and short parade from Amiens [now Connolly] Street Station following their return from the Belfast Twelfth, took place in the 1930s. At that point and for many decades before it was the Orangemen and their supporters who were more likely to be getting ‘beat up’ on Dublin’s streets.

“Beyond that the remarks illustrate all too well the success of Republican anti-Orange propaganda, and with it the failure of Orangeism to adequately disseminate its story.

“Orangeism in Northern Ireland and beyond has always been primarily a very benign cultural and social movement. Stereotypes formed from occasional high profile but relatively isolated incidents need to be challenged by all sides of the political and cultural divides, for the good of all.”

He added: “In my own past personal travels into the Republic to lecture on Orange history, I see at first hand the immense scale of the misconceptions held about Orangeism, but equally and thankfully I also see an eagerness and interest in learning the truth.”

A spokesman for the Orange Order said: “The comments made by Bon Jovi are hardly worth responding to, because of their fictitious nature. However, sadly such nonsense feeds into the Republican broken record of demonising unionism and the Orange family in particular. Sadly, the gullible and bigoted just parrot this propaganda without question.

“If Jon Bon Jovi is really interested in hearing the story from all sides, rather than making up his own version, we would certainly welcome him to the Museum of Orange Heritage. We’ll even throw in a complimentary ticket!”

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