Is it ironic that...

Is it irony that the inventor of TNT instigated the Nobel Peace Prize? Or was it a forgivable display of conscience and contrition? On a lighter note, the Irish comedian Ed Byrne has a great skit on the song "Ironic" by Alanis Morrissette (who I like, I'm not dissing her) but basically the gist of it is that none of the things quoted in the lyrics are ironic. For example, it's like rain on your wedding day... that's just crappy. It's like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife. As Ed points out it WOULD be ironic if you gave up trying to do the thing you needed a knife for, but the next day it turns out a spoon would have done. Equally, it's like a traffic jam when you're already late. That's not ironic, it's just unfortunate. If, however, you were a town planner on your way to a meeting to discuss the problems of traffic congestion THAT would be ironic. In fact, the only irony in that song is that it appears to have been written by someone who doesn't know what irony is.