WHEN a potty-mouthed Irish singer saw Michael Buerk’s heart-stopping BBC report on the famine in Ethiopia in 1984 he decided that he, personally, would try and do something and not walk by on the other side.

Loads of pop stars agreed to turn up to record the song he wrote with Midge Ure and the stars turned up again, the next summer, for Live Aid. They raised more than £160million and the conscience of the world.

How times have changed.

The way he’s been attacked for Band Aid 30 you’d think Bob Geldof was trying to SPREAD Ebola, not defeat it.

The way the tragic scribblers and the liberalist commentariat have gone for him you’d think he’d never set foot in the place, even though he’s been there more times than most aid workers and certainly more than his detractors.

First out of the box was Bryony Gordon – a hack more celebrated for writing a book about her sex life than stopping large numbers of children from dying.

She slapped Geldof for promoting the message that: “You all dig deep and give up your hard earned cash because these famous people who make millions singing songs have deigned to give up a few hours of their time on a weekend.”

She criticised him for allegedly criticising singer Adele for not joining in although, Gordon claimed, the female singer had made a ‘private donation to Oxfam’.

Well, Bry, excuse me if I don’t fall over with joy but haven’t we all? Adele’s voice on that song may have helped it raise, I’m guessing, far more than she probably gave although we’ll never know because she won’t tell us.

But as all of us who donate to charity understand very well, you can put it on your tax return if you want to.

Another accusation was the old chestnut about ‘a man who avoids Irish taxes’ (Bono) as if this was possibly some reason to a) despise Band Aid and b) not buy the tune.

Yes, in my opinion, when it comes to the tax thing Bono is a raging hypocrite. But that’s a matter for those most affected by his alleged financial dealings which must be his fellow Irish citizens. It’s no reason to bash Band Aid 30.

The irrefutable truth is that every single pound raised for this cause will help real people in their hour of need and that is the only thing we need to worry about.

As Mother Teresa once put it: “If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.”

It’s not something the haters would ever understand but it appears to have been Geldof’s guiding principle.

He doesn’t do this for the fame or the money but, I suspect, because it’s the only thing he can do to blot out the horror of a disease where little children must die terrified and in agony because no one will cuddle them for fear of contracting Ebola themselves.

And, when you consider that it isn’t even six months since he lost his own child, Bob Geldof’s effort is even more inspiring.

How easy would it be for him to sit in a room feeling sorry for himself because he couldn’t save Peaches?

But he doesn’t. He’s trying to ensure that no other parent has to lose a child because of a preventable disease and for his basic and visceral humanity, his laser-like focus on the main issue and his innate decency in the face of pathetic comment, I cannot thank him or admire him enough.