Saoirse Ronan, making her opening monologue on NBC's Saturlday Night Live.SNL / YouTube
Saturday Night Live’s sketches certainly displeased a lot of the Irish public but the Irish airline got the last laugh
Aer Lingus, Ireland’s most famous airline, showed their displeasure with Saoirse Ronan’s Saturday Night Live sketch this weekend by mimicking America’s Commander and Chief, Donald Trump’s Twitter style.
On Saturday night the NBC sketch show, Saturday Night Live, displeased most Irish with their sketch about the Irish airline, now owned by International Airlines Group (IAG). The sketch played up to every Irish stereotype, from a menu of potatoes to being old-fashioned and backward. They even mentioned the airline’s name’s similarity to a sexual act.
The Irish airline’s reaction on Twitter was pretty hilarious, showing another Irish trait – a sense of humor. They tweeted “Just tried watching Saturday Night Live – unwatchable! Totally biased, not funny and the Ronan impersonation just can’t get any worse. Sad.”
Just tried watching Saturday Night Live - unwatchable! Totally biased, not funny and the Ronan impersonation just can't get any worse. Sad
— Aer Lingus (@AerLingus) December 3, 2017
Their message was practically a carbon copy of a tweet by President Donald J Trump on December 4, 2016, when he was mightily displeased with Alec Baldwin’s impersonations. He tweeted “Just tried watching Saturday Night Live - unwatchable! Totally biased, not funny and the Baldwin impersonation just can't get any worse. Sad.”
Here’s the sketch in full:
The social media savvy airline didn’t waste time in getting ahead of the Saturday Night Live sketch. They launched a poll on Saturday to see what the public thought of the sketch. Sixty-six percent gave it a thumbs down.
Apparently, we were written into an #SNL sketch last night! 😏 So... what did you think?
— Aer Lingus (@AerLingus) December 3, 2017
The Irish public certainly made their feelings known on Twitter.
From the Irish Times film critic Donald Clarke –
Sorry. I know I shouldn't, but I have to tweet this. Even by the woeful standards of #SNL, this is dreadful. No British station would get away with this depiction of the Irish as potato-scoffing eejits. The dire accents? The Arran jumpers? Unbelievable. https://t.co/wXw6ll2rM4
— 🥃Donald Clarke🎬 (@DonaldClarke63) December 3, 2017
RTE journalist, and former Washington correspondent, Catriona Perry –
Oh dear @nbcsnl was supposed to be an Irish celebration with @U2 & Saoirse Ronan on last night, but this is one of the worst sketches to date. Not funny, and the accents??? #SNL https://t.co/HeaaPJawCN via @YouTube
— Caitriona Perry (@CaitrionaPerry) December 3, 2017
Singer-songwriter James Vincent McMorrow –
Sheesh, someone just sent me that snl aerlingus sketchy, bit of a swing and a miss, we get it, Irish people like dogs and poetry and potatoes and our accents are funny. Classic
— JamesVincentMcMorrow (@jamesvmcmorrow) December 3, 2017
And then the public at large weighed in –
Can we all be clear about something because twitter seems to be getting it’s knickers in a twist again...that #SNL sketch last night with Saoirse Ronan on an @AerLingus flight was NOT insulting.
It was just utterly shit.
— Daragh Keany (@DaraghKeany) December 3, 2017
Sweet lord Jesus. I've just see the SNL @AerLingus sketch. Apart from it being awful, I didn't understand the dog thing. Do we like dogs more than other countries? Is that a thing we're known for?
— Mrhairyman (@chiefhairyman) December 4, 2017
that aer lingus snl video is a hate crime
— rebecca (@rbcakn) December 3, 2017
It seems that Saoirse’s opening monologue also didn’t go down well with the Irish public.
Did anyone else find that Saoirse Ronan Aer Lingus sketch on #SNL about as funny as a verruca? The opening skit was utterly dire too.
— Andrea Smith (@AndreaMarySmith) December 3, 2017
The Irish star, born in New York to Irish parents and raised in County Carlow, seems to hit a bum note from the beginning of the show when she spent a great deal of it making fun of her Irish name.
Read more: Saoirse Ronan's Lady Bird becomes top reviewed movie EVER on Rotten Tomatoes
She said “Yes I am very Irish and I have an extremely Irish name, some would say too Irish.
"It’s Saoirse, it means freedom but I’ve got a little problem - it’s spelled wrong, the full typo. S-A-O-I-R-S-E.
"You can see why people have a hard time.
"If it was a Wheel of Fortune puzzle, you couldn’t afford it.
"There’s too many vowels, God bless them, no one has been able to pronounce my name, not even close."
Sadly, the public, especially the Irish, were especially excited about the December 2 Saturday Night Live, which also featured Irish rock legends U2, promoting their newest album, Songs of Experience.