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Criticising Ireland is part of improving our country – which is something Irish officialdom should realise, instead of demanding that everyone pulls on the green jersey

Bob Geldof infuriated some last week by handing back the Freedom of Dublin, which he was awarded in 1986 for his role in organising Live Aid Pic: Charles McQuillan

Irish people are not allowed to criticise Ireland – because if we do, that makes us into bad people: a bunch of ungrateful brats who don’t deserve our suppers and should be sent to bed immediately to teach us a lesson and remind us to keep those smiles pinned to our faces and our conversation strictly in the realm of platitudes. Ireland is great, remember? Ireland must always be great! To say anything ...