A DUBLIN artist who's obviously quite talented - he created the statue of Irish musician Phil Lynott on Harry Street in the city - is well into his next project, but it's proving so costly that he's run out of funds and may not complete it.

The subject in question is Bono, and artist Paul Daley has been working on the statue of the U2 superstar for three months. But Bono remains unfinished in Daley's workspace because he can't afford the materials to go on.

"It's a labor of love really but I've gone with it as far as I can go without funding. Artists normally get commissioned to make pieces like this but I got so wrapped up in what I was doing, I didn't think about the cost," Daley told the Sunday Tribune.

The likeness of Bono comes from a photo that Daley saw during the band's Joshua Tree tour. "There's something incredibly powerful about Bono in this period. Evangelical almost. The way he stood on stage at Live Aid, the goodness of the man, and that's what appealed to me and started me making the piece," he added.

But will the piece ever get finished? A logical starting point for financing would be Bono himself, but Daley hasn't gone that route . . . yet.

"No I haven't approached U2. Things look pretty hopeless now but in my heart of heart I know I'll finish it," he says. Perhaps if Bono read the piece over his Sunday breakfast he'll take pity and come up with the dough.