Irish parents outraged by 'horrendous' Peppa Pig Goes to Ireland book

Peppa Pig Goes to Ireland was released last summer and the story follows the titular character and her family as they travel on a ferry to the Emerald Isle to attend an Irish dancing competition.

But Irish author Kevin Power took to Twitter to complain that despite the fact the book takes place in Ireland, no Irish characters are featured in the story at all, threatening to contact Joe Duffy on RTÉ’s Liveline about the atrocity.

In a sardonic tweet, he explained: “I read this to my daughter at bedtime. It features no Irish characters, just English characters enjoying themselves in Ireland, thus reinscribing 800 years of colonialism. Might call Liveline about it tomorrow.”

Kevin later insisted that he was only joking in the tweet, but a host of angry Irish parents had already flooded the replies to agree with him and express their disdain.

One person said: “Yeah we got it too, Ireland is basically a diddly-eye theme park. But the peppa pig corporation isn’t even trying, the quality of all that stuff is woeful.”

A disgruntled mother added: “I never do this with books but I put it in the bin IMMEDIATELY after reading it. I would have put it in sooner but the kids spotted it. It is horrendous. Not allowed in this dojo!”

While a third highlighted their hatred for the cartoon: “I hate that bleedin’ pig. She’s such a bad role model for kids! Fat-shaming Daddy Pig & all that. I don’t believe in banning books, but in this case 1’d make an exception.”

And one parent said that they thought the book would have featured more typical Irish stereotypes, writing: “Surprised it doesn’t have a token Irish character - Máiréad the Moose or something - who does Irish dancing and loves potatoes.”

Kevin was then forced to clear the air about his opinions on the popular children’s character, taking to Twitter once more to set the story straight by writing: “Wondering at what point I should step in and point out that my Peppa Goes to Ireland tweet is a joke.”