U2 star Bono has criticized Time Magazine’s decision to put Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny on their cover – and said they got the wrong man.

The rock star has told the Sunday Independent newspaper that the people of Ireland were more deserving of the accolade than Kenny.

Bono believes those paying the price for mistakes by Kenny’s predecessors in government are the real heroes of Ireland’s fight against the recession.

He told the paper: “They are the ones who have taken all the pain.

“I heard the Taoiseach (Irish PM) said - and I think it’s right - that the real people who should have been on the front cover were the Irish people.

“If it’s true he said that, then that says a lot about the man. Because it’s the people who have taken all the pain.”

Kenny made the cover after giving the magazine the interview when he said he was "leading Ireland’s fight to recover from the bust."

Kenny and Bono met last Christmas when the U2 singer was offered a role as a roving ambassador for Ireland.

Bono also told the Sunday Independent that he is humbled that Irish people are donating to the Third World despite the recession.

He added: “The Irish people are amazing. What’s so incredible about the Irish people is that if you poll them - I think it’s over 62 per cent - even though they are hurting and there’s a lot of pain in the country, they don’t want to cut the aid budget. That just humbles me.”