Michelle Obama and daughters have pub lunch with Bono

The Obamas ate in Finnegan's Pub in Dalkey with the U2 singer and his wife Ali

US First Lady Michelle Obama and her daughters Malia and Sasha have had a pub lunch with Irish rock star Bono.The Obamas ate in Finnegan's Pub in Dalkey, County Dublin, with the U2 singer and his wife Ali Hewson and others.The menu included smoked bacon and cabbage, cottage pie, salmon and chicken and ham with mozzarella.

The family has now left Ireland, flying out of Belfast International Airport in Air Force One.Earlier the Obamas visited the 6th Century monastic site at Glendalough, in the Wicklow Mountains National Park. Malia and Sasha were given a lesson on the ancient ruins by local tour guide George McClafferty.The valley, in the heart of the Wicklow mountains, is a well-worn tourist path for visitors to Ireland's east coast. Sasha was given the honour of closing the door to the ruins of St Kevin's Church, which dates back 1,500 years.The teenager was handed a key and after locking the door, she turned to her older sister and gave her a high five.

Mrs Obama and her daughters were with President Barack Obama when he made a speech in Belfast on Monday morning.However, they travelled to the Republic of Ireland when Mr Obama went to the G8 summit in County Fermanagh.Later on Monday, Malia and Sasha Obama were presented with an Irish certificate of heritage at Trinity College in Dublin.It was presented to them by Henry Healy, an eighth cousin of Mr Obama.The first lady and her daughters then attended a performance of Riverdance at the Gaiety Theatre, where Mrs Obama also addressed a group of children.

http://www.bbc.co.uk//http://www.independent.ie

A Night For Christy

Dublin's Olympia Theatre will host a unique collection of artists this Friday, a collective show of goodwill for Aslan's Christy Dignam. U2 will take part from a studio in New York and the entire show will be streamed live in venues around the world. MC for the night will be the artist Guggi.

Along with U2, performing Aslan's 'This Is', the show will feature performances from Bressie, Danny O'Reilly (The Coronas), members of Horslips, Ryan Sheridan, Paul Brady, Shane MacGowan, Mary Black, Don Mescall, Tom Dunne (Something Happens), Jerry Fish, Steve Wall (The Stunning), Gavin Friday, Mark Feehily, Paul Walsh (Royseven), The Riptide Movement, Jedward, Gavin James and Kiera Dignam. 

All the performers have handpicked their favourite song from the Aslan setlist and are stepping into Christy's shoes for one night only. Venues in Dubai, Germany, Czech Republic, Australia, Canada, the UK and across Ireland will be carrying the show live, with more being added every day and the full list announced later in the week on www.aslan.ie.

'With the gig selling out in a few hours a lot of fans who have supported the band for years were not able to get tickets.' said Aslan's Billy McGuinness. 'This type of gig will never happen again so its great to give people a chance to see it by streaming it live from the Olympia.' 

“The Meaning of Life” : Gay Byrne interviews Bono

 RTE  has just posted on YouTube a video with a small excerpt of "The Meaning of Life" , where Gay Byrne interviews Bono. We`ll see the full interview on 25 June by the Irish TV network RTE One.





http://www.youtube.com/user/rte?feature=watch

The Power of Rights

Bono has worked in the video "The Power of Rights" for the Open Society Foundations, one of the world's most important supporters in the defense and promotion of human rights.

But what do  human rights really mean? Kofi Annan, Bono, Amartya Sen, George Soros, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Chris Stone, and many others share their thoughts (Bono appears in the following positions: 2:20, 3:20 and 6:40).




http://news.u2fanlife.com/http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org

From Bono to Bob

Detail from Sleep Inside the Pillow illustration of Bob Hewson by Bono

Dear Bob,

I’m sorry,

Love Bono

“My brother Norman was the most consistent carer of my Dad in the last year of his life,” says Bono. Their father Brendan Robert Hewson died in 2001 after a battle with cancer.

Until the latter years, Bono and his dad had a difficult relationship. The U2 singer says he only realised after his death that he, not his father, had been the cause of most of their problems. “When I figured this out a couple of years after he died I went up a hill to a little chapel in the South of France to ask for his forgiveness. I felt an incredible weight lift from me. There’s nothing like a grudge to give you a limp in life. I rolled back down the hill and I’ve been rolling ever since”. 

http://www.irishtimes.com

"A Message for Iran"

In a message sent to Bono, Amir Hossein Jahanshahi, founder of Green Wave, expressed his appreciation and gratitude for the continued support that Bono and his group have given the Iranian nation's struggle for the liberation of their country.

This message was sent following the launch of a new music video for U2, which is now available for the Iranian public via Facebook, Twitter and Youtube of Amir Hossein Jahanshahi. In his message to Bono, Jahanshahi says:

"While I express my thanks to you as a great international artist who has always supported  the causes of the struggle of the people and freedom movements everywhere, I'm sure your moral support  to the Iranian nation will serve as a important drive to further enhance its efforts to the establishment of a civilized order in line with the aspirations of all Iranians. Yourr support comes at the time when Iranians ,more than ever,are  in need of support and international solidarity to prepare to confront the dictatorial regime prevailing in our country today. Bono and U2 once again have shown their support and solidarity with the love of freedom for the people of Iran and  the regional search for democratic change. "


http://noticierou2.blogspot.com.ar/

Video: "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" for agit8

U2 made this video on  May 31st on the roof of Electric Lady Studios in New York City.  Bono changed some lyrics (as usual) in the second half of the song. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" is one of the songs that appear in the Agit8 campaign  launched by ONE for the leaders meet at the G8 Summit.







http://www.one.org