FORBES MAGAZINE has sparked fury in Ireland after publishing an article describing Limerick as “stab city” and the “murder capital” of Europe.
The disparaging descriptions came as part of a feature focused on brothers Patrick and James Collison, who left Limerick to set up their financial services and software company Stripe in Silicon Valley.
Titled “How Two Brothers Escaped 'Stab City' and Made $11 Billion,” the article opens with the following: “Some call it ‘stab city.’ Many folks think Ireland is all rolling green hills and five-star golf courses.
“But in the middle of the Irish countryside is a city called Limerick—known as the ‘murder capital’ of Europe.”
It continues: “Limerick is the last place you want your kids growing up. But two brothers who went to high school there recently beat the odds.”
The article has drawn a strong reaction online, not least from John and Patrick themselves.
Hard to believe an Irish guy wrote this. Very irresponsible and a totally unfair picture of Limerick https://t.co/oRUhSSeEbH
— Charlie Taylor (@ChasTaylor) April 9, 2021
Taking to Twitter, John described the tone of the piece as “daft” while his brother Patrick said the journalist had been “mistaken” and felt it was “crazy” to suggest they were “overcoming anything” because of their Limerick roots.
“Not only mistaken about Limerick but the idea of "overcoming" anything is crazy. We are who we are *because* we grew up where we did,” he said.
In the wake of the article's publication, the hashtag #LimerickAndProud began trending on social media in Ireland with many eager to come out in support of the city.
The piece is no longer available to read on the Forbes website.
Writing on Twitter, John Collison described the article as “daft”.
Born in Limerick, Patrick and John Collison are now reportedly worth $9.5 billion apiece while their company Stripe was most recently valued at $95 billion making it the most valuable start-up in the US.
