‘It was a great gig, great fun’

“Sure why not, I wouldn’t mind it at all,” says Bob Geldof laughing, when asked if he’d happily become an ‘Honorary’ Cavan person if the offer were ever extended.

Geldof, who famously returned his Freedom of Dublin award in 2017 in protest at Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi holding the same honour, spoke to the Celt after The Boomtown Rats, replete with bassist and Ballyjamesduff native Patrick Cusack, aka Pete Briquette, enthused: “It’s a great county, with great people.”

On stage Geldof pulled out a repertoire of jokes both at Patrick and the county’s expense, including how it had taken “47 years” for the band to find their way to play here. But it was all in jest, and “good humour” he assures.

Wearing a ‘More Blacks, More Dogs, More Irish’ t-shirt, the 71-year-old Geldof is now relaxing after energetically gyrating and swaggering his was through an expletive-laden, near two-hour set.

The band are catching their collective breath, joined by close family and friends who made the journey to see The Boomtown Rats play this one-off Cavan show. The Greenroom is located in Declan Wood’s Auctioneers. Outside are parked two new VW ID Buzz electric vans, supplied by Bradys of Arva, to take the band members and their entourages to the Farnham Estate where they’ll stay the night.

“It was a great gig, great fun,” he says: “We sort of did a dry run of the piss take. [Patrick] hadn’t a f**king clue. But we’re really here because he wanted to do it and, once you’re here, you’re totally in the moment and you’re committed. If you’re not committed to the moment, then you may as well give it up, that’s it.”

He adds of the show at Cavan Town’s Egg Market: “From the moment you’re in it, it has to be your full focus. We wouldn’t do or give anything less if we were playing anywhere else, that’s for f**king sure.”

Bob laughs again at the notion of the concert taking place in a “car park”, which he referenced as part of his shtick to the crowd. The Celt reporter informs the internationally recognised singer-songwriter and political activist there was a genuine hue of surrealism at the start, where many in attendance could scarcely believe what they were seeing on stage.

“If they were, I certainly was. Obviously I’m taking the piss about never having been to Cavan. I’ve passed through it a few times,” he says laughing again.

Will the Rats be back? “There’s no reason why not. Great crowd, good fun. We really enjoyed ourselves.”