If you told me earlier in the week that a volcano in Iceland was going to disrupt my planned trip this weekend to Miami, well... well, I simply wouldn't have believed you. But in a similar fashion, if you told me last week that the first Irish music act to perform on the Ellen show would be a group that started out as a laughing stock among a few people, well... well, I simply wouldn't have believed you either. But the world is a strange place, so volcanoes under ice can disrupt holidays and a band perceived to be a joke can achieve global fame.

I am of course talking about Crystal Swing, the family unit of Mary, Dervla and Derek from Cork, who have been busy tying irony in knots and making money out of it in the process. Let's sort the beginning out first. Crystal Swing came to wider public attention when a video of them singing 'He Drinks Tequila' was featured on the blog of Irish drag queen Panti. People began talking about it (and laughing at it) on Twitter. Then Seán Moncrieff from Newstalk got a hold of it, then Ryan Tubridy got in on the action, and eventually they ended up on the Late Late Show. All of this was met with hilarity and a sort of thrilling shock that something could go viral and bleed into the mainstream so quickly. But everyone was laughing at Crystal Swing. Nobody spread the video around saying, "Hey, check out this awesome new band." Of course, it was awfully mean to be laughing at three lovely people doing their best. Crystal Swing were never meant to break out of being the act of choice for Age Action rallies or local weddings, and suddenly they had condescending folk like me laughing at their video in a 'so bad it's entertaining' kind of way.

When they appeared on the Late Late Show, the joke morphed into something else. For some who were already aware of them, the joke was kind of over. For those who were unaware of them, they either thought they were rubbish or actually decided the music was good. Then Ellen DeGeneres somehow got a hold of them and flew them to LA to do a weird interview that set perceptions of Irish people back to the times of whiskey-swilling hucklebuckers.

It's all very strange. When people become famous on the back of people laughing at them, you can't then halfway up the fame arc pretend that there's some other reason for them being catapulted into the realms of celebrity. Crystal Swing seem to be taking things extremely seriously (unlike, let's say, fellow novelty act Jedward). In every interview, a clinical lack of self-awareness is articulated whereby they express the brilliance of the time they're having and how it has just been a rollercoaster and a dream come true, as all the while they steadfastly ignore the laughing-stock factor that actually got them there in the first place.

Essentially my problem is not with Crystal Swing, because I would be a very sad and pathetic person if their existence kept me up at night (nervous laugh). My problem is with the Crystal Swing defenders. Any time I jokingly rant about them on Twitter (okay, fine, I may have suggested something to do with a sacrifice to the volcano) I'm met with a barrage of flak for being a mean begrudger. So my beef is with this ridiculous reaction that Irish people must endorse and support and be happy for anything Irish just because. I don't begrudge Crystal Swing anything. There is a marked difference between begrudging something and thinking something is crap.

Fair play-ism is a disease; a rotten, stinking, lazy disease that fosters mediocrity. Critical faculties are meant to be paused if the "art" under consideration is Irish. Such festering parochialism is why we get unwatchable "talent" on our reality TV shows (although a visiting judge for RTé's new venture Fame: The Musical recently felt it necessary to say that most of the people who auditioned were completely awful). It is why we congratulate sports teams when they limp home defeated, and why the latest musical export getting coverage talented acts could only dream of is, invariably, a joke.

Fair play-ism is like some showbiz mother constantly telling her little Johnny that he's a great singer and will be a superstar one day even though he doesn't have a note in his head. And that attitude that nothing can be faulted as long as it's from your parish, your county or your country creates far more serious problems beyond ultimately irrelevant things like Crystal Swing.

You only have to observe the idiocy of Quinn Insurance's staff protesting against the Financial Regulator and not their beloved boss who got them into this mess to see how blindly protectionist people can be of what's 'theirs'. It's about time we grew up enough to allow ourselves to criticise and accept criticism of things that are 'ours' even though it might sting a bit. Although that's nothing a little tequila can't fix.

umullally@tribune.ie