Bono invited Taoiseach, Tánaiste, and President to memoir promotion
Bono at the Irish premiere of 'The Banshees of Inisherin' at the Light House Cinema, Dublin. The U2 singer held a live event in Dublin’s 3Olympia Theatre in November to promote the publication of his memoir 'Surrender'. Picture: Andres Poveda
The Taoiseach, Tánaiste, and President all received invitations from Bono to attend the live event he held in Dublin’s 3Olympia Theatre in November to promote the publication of his memoir.
An entry on the Lobbying Register from the U2 singer’s The One Campaign charity shows that Leo Varadkar, Micheál Martin, and Michael D Higgins were invited as his guests for the Surrender Dublin show.
Under legislation, a person must register if they are communicating directly or indirectly with a “designated public official”, and advocacy bodies that exist to primarily take up particular issues must also post details of their lobbying activities.
Bono, again through his charity, also wrote to then-taoiseach Mr Martin late last year to ask Ireland to increase its contributions by 30% to the Global Fund, which aims to fight Aids, TB, and malaria.
He also later wrote to thank the taoiseach after Ireland did commit to that extra funding.
The One Campaign was co-founded by the musician, and aims to “end extreme poverty and preventable disease by 2030, so that everyone, everywhere can lead a life of dignity and opportunity”.
The Stories of Surrender book tour was billed as an “evening of words, music and some mischief”.
As well as Dublin, the singer also performed shows in a number of American cities and London, Berlin, Paris, and Madrid.
A spokesperson for President Higgins confirmed he was invited and attended the event in Dublin. The President is a U2 fan, having posted a photograph backstage with the band at a concert in 2018.
Both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste, who have recently swapped roles, are understood to have attended with other well-known figures such as Charlie Bird, Jim Sheridan, and bandmate Adam Clayton also at the event.
Bono, whose real name is Paul Hewson, regularly features on the Lobbying Register for his work on overseas development aid and other matters either under his own name or under the One Campaign charity.
In 2020, entries show he made a phonecall to then-finance minister Paschal Donohoe with a view to “facilitating discussion of the housing crisis in Ireland, the potential establishment of a broad-based special housing policy task force”. The entry is registered under his given name, Paul Hewson.
In 2016, he lobbied then-environment minister Alan Kelly, indicating his support for "the idea of a world-class film studio in Dublin".
