Bono at American Ireland Fund Gala

Bono attended the American Ireland Fund's 35th anniversary New York gala, which raised $3 million for Irish and Irish-American projects Thursday.

The U2 front man joined former President Bill Clinton, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and 1,300 members of the Irish-American business, political and arts communities at the event at Manhattan's Lincoln Center.

"Despite the economic downturn on both sides of the Atlantic, this year's special anniversary gala -- one of the largest annual events of its kind among the global Irish Diaspora -- surpassed the American Ireland Fund's target of $2.5 million," organizers said.

"One of the big disappointments of my young life was when the piano was taken from my grandmother's house," Bono told the crowd at Lincoln Center. "Luckily for me, I went on to a school with a strong music facility. As a band we believe music tuition should be available to anyone who wants it. It greatly benefits the individual, which in turn benefits the country. We hope the National Music Tuition Program will inspire Ireland's young musicians, who might not otherwise get access to such valuable teaching."

Proceeds from the gala are intended to benefit a range of projects across Ireland as well as in the United States. The first two checks cut on the night, for $500,000 and $200,000 respectively, were for the Music Network in Ireland and the Forgotten Irish in New York, organizers said.

(c) UPI, 2010.

Also present were Ali and Paul Mc Guiness.