Bono says he’s ready to tour the world as Irish economic ambassador

U2 frontman Bono repeated his offer to tour the world as an ambassador for Ireland at a pre-Christmas meeting with Prime Minister Enda Kenny.

 

The rock star presented the Fine Gael leader with a bottle of rare Mayo whiskey when they met for two hours at government buildings last Wednesday.

 

The private meeting is the first between Bono and an Irish government leader since he became friendly with former PM Garret Fitzgerald in the late 1980s.

 

Kenny’s advisers were sent from his office as the pair spent two hours in private discussions on the state of the Irish and world economies.

 

Bono, a long term campaigner on behalf of the Third World, repeated his offer to act as an ambassador for Ireland according to the Sunday Independent newspaper.

  

The U2 star had told the Global Irish Economic Forum at Dublin Castle last October that he was willing to represent Ireland as a global ambassador.

 

“I am ready to hit the road again, not on a U2 world tour, but to resurrect the reputation of Ireland abroad,” he said at the time.

 

“I am willing to work for the country in whatever role is asked of me.

 

“The mood at this forum was oddly optimistic. There is a certain fighting spirit which I found evident.”

 

Speaking in October, Bono also praised the Irish people’s ‘anarchic spirit’ and said the Government had been smart to fight for Ireland’s tax competitiveness.

 

He told the media that the most important thing to take from the forum was that it was ‘within us to make this country ours again so we’re not beholden to these financial institutions’.

 

A government spokesman has confirmed that the Prime Minister’s meeting with Bono last week was arranged after the Dublin forum.

 

“A wide range of issues were discussed by the two men during what turned out to be an extended meeting,” said the spokesman.

 

U2 have been criticized in Ireland for moving part of their tax base to Holland.