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Dublin Live
Dublin Live
Entertainment
Gavin O'Callaghan

Seven people who Dubliners just love a good moan about

There's a small minority of people in the world who Dubliners just seem to love holding a grudge against.

Whether they've wound up the Hill in Croker, broken the shoulders of our best Rugby players, complained about the locals, or made a show of our councillors - there's a few who could be waiting a while if they ever try to order a pint in any of our 751 pubs.

If it makes them feel any better, we do agree that they all have another thing in common - they're incredibly talented, and in some cases their talents have been the direct reason we've grown to despise them.

So here's seven people Dubliners love to hate.

1. Lee Keegan

Philip McMahon and Diarmuid Connolly clash with Lee Keegan and Diarmuid O’Connor (©INPHO/James Crombie)

There's been a number of incidents down the years involving Keegan's antics against Dublin.

Most recently the Mayo man stirred controversy after desperately throwing his heart-rate monitor at the ball in an attempt to distract Dean Rock from kicking the winning point in last year's All-Ireland.

In the same game, Leeroy scored in front of The Hill - and he didn't hesitate to rub it in the crowd's face.

A 2015 semi-final spat with Diarmuid Connolly also saw the Vincents man receive a red card with Keegan afterwards admitting to being the original pot-stirrer of the shemozzle, while in the 2016 final replay he himself was on the end of the scalding as he received a black card for dragging the Vincent's man to the ground.

2. Tana Umaga

Tana Umaga (©INPHO/Billy Stickland)

This one goes back to 2005, but it still hurts.

Brian O'Driscoll's career hit dizzying heights regardless, but being named captain of The British and Irish Lions for their 2005 tour of New Zealand was one the country, and the Dubs, were over the moon about.

Lions captain Brian O'Driscoll is treated before leaving the field with a dislocated shoulder (©INPHO/Hannah Johnston)

At 26, he was hitting his peak years and already had a tour under his belt having went to Australia to take part in 2001.

The Lions had won 5/7 of their test games leading up to their first All Blacks showdown in Christchurch - but within a minute of what should have been one of his proudest days, it was all over.

People weren't shy about getting on Umaga's back (©INPHO/Billy Stickland)

Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu were obviously afraid of what he was going to do, so they decided to take the Leinster man out almost breaking his neck as they dump tackled him off-the-ball in the first minute of the first game.

Their sabotaged was successful - BOD was ruled out of the rest of the tour while the pair never received any punishment due lack of footage.

The aftermath saw Dublin pubs vow never to serve the pair if they ever turned up in the capital.

3. Bono

Bono ((Photo by Robin Marchant/Getty Images for NARAS))

This has always been a puzzling one, it's been pointed out many times that a band with U2's stature and success would be celebrated wildly in any other country.

Fourteen albums, over €170 million in record sales, almost €2 billion in ticket sales, and a guaranteed sell-out stadium for every Irish show - yet for some reason a lot of people just don't like Bono.

Recently, the Guardian's Dean Van Nguyen tried to tie down exactly what it is about Paul Hewson that seems to irk people so much.

The writer went to Dublin and asked around, and the conclusion he came to was that it was a combination of "self-righteousness" and "hypocrisy" regarding his tax dealings and friendships with Tony Blair and George W Bush.

"To some, though, there’s a hypocrisy to the samaritan who avoids the taxman, aligns himself with corporations like Apple, which is itself fighting a legal battle against paying back taxes in Ireland, and dines with George W Bush and Tony Blair. To others, there’s just something about Bono’s perceived self-righteousness that rubs them up the wrong way."

4. Bob Geldof

Bob Geldof hands back his freedom of Dublin city ((Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images))

A lot of the feelings around Bob aren't too dissimilar to Bono, his music is much more loved than his persona.

There's a huge amount of respect for their charity work, most notably with Live Aid, but your average grouch on a bar stool will accuse them of being a bit sanctimonious.

Geldof most recently made headlines after he handed back his Freedom of Dublin honour in protest over it also being held by Burma's Head of State Aung San Suu Kyi.

His calls were headed and Dublin City Council who took back Suu Kyi's title, but they never offered him his back - a move which Bob said he was "absolutely disgusted" by.

5. Garth Brooks

Garth Brooks ((Photo by Greg Doherty/Getty Images))

The Brooks debacle is a two-sided one. Some will tell you he held the country to ransom while others blame the Dubs living around Croker for the mess that unfolded in summer 2014.

As the well known story goes, Brooks and Aiken Promotions announced three gigs in Croke Park - the 200,000 tickets for these concerts sold out in two hours.

Trying to make the most of the opportunity, they decided to add two more dates - but after announcing it and selling a further 200,000 tickets they were hit with a massive snag.

Dublin City Council had received 370 complaints about the new concerts and as a result, they refused to grant permission for them to go ahead.

The country music star wasn't happy and infamously said he'd do all five shows or none at all, and after weeks of playing chicken nobody budged and he ended up following through on his word.

In many Dub's eyes, Brooks was a bully who thought he could land in the capital and do whatever he wanted - there was great satisfaction taken in watching him throw his toys out of the pram when he couldn't have his way.

6. Phil Mickelson

Phil Mickelson (©INPHO/Getty Images)

Many might not be aware of this one, but in 1991 the five-time Major winner was enemy number 1 after making a lewd comment about Irish women.

The then-amateur was playing in a tournament in Portmarnock when he was asked by a reporter about a loose shot he hit that ended up in the rough.

He strangely replied: "That's not a place I want to be. The Irish women are not that attractive."

The comment made national headlines with local papers reportedly running the headlines "BAD BOY PHIL!" and "MASTERFUL MICKELSON DRAWS IRISH IRE."

The backlash prompted an apology from Mickelson who said it was "a bad joke" and that he felt terrible - but he's not been remembered fondly in Portmarnock ever since.

7. Ed Power (The Irish Times guy who said he hated Dubliners)

When The Irish Times clicked publish on Ed Power's "Why I'm glad I can't afford to live in Dublin" they must have known that there was going to be some reaction to it.

Power's piece revolves around attending a game in Croke Park with his son - and it's filled with grievances about how he doesn't like the locals.

From the off he calls the accent "moany" before going to to say that his only friends in the capital are from outside the city - he then describes the natives as "not quite like the rest of us."

Power's most controversial lines revolved around the Dublin GAA scene, and how it apparently is a cheap knock-off of English cutlure.

"Even when Dubliners get behind the GAA they invariably make a mess of it. With its chants and its boos, Hill 16 is a bad cover version of Merseyside’s The Kop or Manchester United’s Stretford End."

"And though it’s heartening to know grown men can retain their ability to play make-believe into adulthood, going to a game against the Dubs is always mildly discombobulating – as if one set of fans has by accident turned up at the wrong sport and in the wrong country."

Needless to say fans of Jim Gavin's men just weren't having it and the piece was met with a mass amount of criticism.

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