U2 - ARISE BONO, 'LORD OF LORDS'

ARISE BONO, 'LORD OF LORDS'

U2 frontman Bono has been awarded an honorary knighthood at a ceremony in Dublin.

The Irish rock legend was presented with the title by the British ambassador, David Reddaway, but will not take the appellation of 'sir' because he is not a British resident.

Joking with reporters he commented: "You have permission to call me anything you want except sir."

As an alternative the charity campaigner and multimillion-selling artist suggested "lord of lords" or "your demi-godness".

U2 band members Adam Clayton and The Edge were also on hand to celebrate the moment, with Tony Blair even sending his congratulations in a letter.

The prime minister wrote: "I'll leave it to others far more knowledgeable than me to talk about U2's music - all I'll say is that, along with millions of others right across the world, I'm a huge fan."

Bono said he wanted to use the title to help him continue his efforts to tackle third world debt and global poverty.

The 46-year-old was instrumental in the Live 8 project in 2005 when, together with Bob Geldof, he organised a series of concerts to raise awareness of global poverty to coincide with the meeting of the G8 ministers.