Bono recalls British police officers telling him his wife was a particular target of the IRA after he cut up the Irish flag during numerous acts of “militant pacifism” during U2 performances in the 1980s.
In his new memoir, Surrender, the U2 frontman said the tricolor was often thrown at him during shows, and that he sometimes “mined the orange and green, reinvented it as a white flag and tried to support something for non-violence.” problems.
Bono described how “part of the crowd couldn’t take it” when he cut the flag in Croke Park in 1985 as a number of people tried to attack the car he was in after the concert, “and support for the.” Men yelled violence they became fast”.
“A distorted young man, a tricolor flag wrapped around his fist, tried to smash the window next to Ali’s [his wife’s] face,” he writes.
“Things changed for U2 in Ireland towards the end of the 80’s.
“For a while it was like we were the national team that brought the title home. We were still local heroes, but there was a slight change in spirit.”
After concluding that Gerry Adams had called him “a piece of shit” in an interview at the time, Bono said the band “had been recommended to grow [our] Security after a wealthy dentist (Dr. John O’Grady) was kidnapped with the tips of two of his fingers mailed for ransom.”
He went on to say that Special Branch said he had become a target for the IRA, but that his wife Ali was actually predicted to be “the more likely target.”
“I still take it badly for all sorts of reasons,” he continued.
Former Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams wrote in the Andersonstown News last week that this “is news to me and everyone else close to Republican thought.” Mr Adams has been contacted for further comment on Bono’s claims.
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The 62-year-old singer also wrote: “Being Irish didn’t mean I was Protestant or Catholic. My father was Catholic, but he didn’t want to swallow the rhetoric of these so-called freedom fighters either.”
His father was reportedly “suspicious of who controls the narrative” behind all countries, telling Bono that “dividing our little island had a lot more to do with keeping Harland & Wolff in the union than protecting the Protestants.” .
But in the ’80s, the lead singer admitted his father was “a little shocked to see me on stage in the Rocky Mountains doing performance art involving tearing up the Irish flag.”
He also said: “The band’s heartfelt hope is that one day Ireland will again become a united Ireland in a peaceful and democratic manner.”
Referring to NI, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer added: “I love being in Northern Ireland. The band that plays Belfast is a highlight of any tour. We love Nordies for their gallows humor. There’s always enough scaffolding, that’s for sure.”
