Legendary rocker Bono has joked that it is not fair that Matt Damon has been adopted as the king of Dalkey, when it is him who has lived there for the past 30 years!
Damon spent several months living in Dalkey last year after the covid lockdown restrictions came into force and he decided to stay put rather than travel home to the US.
During his stay he became a local celebrity around the town, as he mingled with the locals and famously shopped at SuperValu.
Ever since, Damon has been heralded as an honorary Dalkey man, and one of the nation’s favourite stars.
The Bourne Identity star has spoken openly about his love of the town, much to the delight of the locals.
All this fuss over Damon has rubbed Bono up the wrong way, and he was happy to vent during a recent interview with GQ magazine.
The veteran singer said: “I’ve lived in this village, or next to this village, for 30 years—this f****r is there for three months and they make him the king of Dalkey!
“I mean, it’s unbelievable. He’s caught in some kind of local photo shoot with a SuperValu plastic bag, and the rumour that he’s carrying cans, and suddenly he’s got all this credibility that some of us just are incapable of ever achieving.
“He’s beloved! I mean, there’ll be a statue of him there. I don’t know what it was, and what he did. But I’m very annoyed about it. I’m not happy at all.”
The rant was mostly tongue-in-cheek, as Bono and Damon are actually good friends who have known each other for years.
They met in 2006 when they were both working with the international charity water.org.
Bono went on to compliment Damon, describing him as “free from self-consciousness”.
He explained: “For a man who looks in the mirror for a living, he’s not even a little bit self-conscious, I’ve found.
“I mean, I think I’ve got freedom, but I’m self-conscious. When I walk into the newsagent’s, I can see myself walking into the newsagent’s, do you know what I mean?
“He’s really himself. There’s some things you shouldn’t get too good at. Celebrity’s one of them.”