Ireland's most-successful band U2 and its frontman Bono were accused of dodging taxes in their home country by protesters at the group's first performance at England's Glastonbury Festival, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

As Bono and his bandmates took to the Pyramid Stage at the huge, muddy outdoor music festival, activists from the direct action group Art Uncut inflated a 20-foot balloon emblazoned with the message “U Pay Your Tax 2," Sky News reported.

As the activists tried to release the balloon over the crowd of about 50,000, security personnel wrestled them to the ground and deflated the balloon, sparking angry clashes with about 30 protesters, with several of them pinned against a fence near the stage, according to the Telegraph. There were no arrests.

One of the Art Uncut group members said: “That was totally over the top. He threatened to hit me.”

U2 was criticized in 2006 when the band reportedly shifted most of its business affairs from Ireland to the Netherlands, where royalties on music incur virtually no tax, after the Irish government cut tax breaks for income earned from "works of artistic merit," CNN reported.

Bono, guitarist The Edge, bass player Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen are among Ireland's wealthiest residents, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Forbes magazine estimated the band earned $195 million last year.

Art Uncut says that while Bono campaigns against poverty in the developing world, his very wealthy group has run out on paying Irish taxes at a time when the country desperately needs the money. Ireland, which has received an international bailout, is dealing with difficult spending cuts, tax increases and unemployment as it tries to pull its debt-burdened economy out of danger of bankruptcy.