"While I was there", he tells HP's Niall Stokes, "I tried to woo my errant lover with… offal, the kidneys, the livers, but I think it was the sausages that turned her. And she decided to come back to my loving arms, and we set off for Canada."

In the interview, which is full of humorous reflections on his youthful self, Geldof also talks about his days before The Boomtown Rats when he worked as an illegal immigrant in Canada and used illegal papers.

He says that this time made him sympathetic to those in a similar situation in Ireland. "The only possible reason they could be coming here is ‘cause they think they’re going somewhere better, and to better their lives," he says.

Geldof also explains why, after being deported from Canada, he tried to start a rock 'n roll paper In Dublin. "Ireland in the ‘70s was worse than now… but the guy at the bank told me ‘come back when you’re 40’. Fucking twat… the object was make money and do something like Hot Press."

He details the background to the almost accidental formation of The Boomtown Rats, recalls their very first gig, how they attracted the ire of Dublin ‘feminists’ with a poster featuring what appeared to be a woman’s legs, why he wore a t-shirt with the legend ‘Geldof is God’ and how Richard Branson of Virgin Records gave him a cheque for a million quid.

The interview, in the new issue of Hot Press (Glen Hansard cover) is based on his interview with Niall Stokes, at the Music Show in the RDS. It will continue in our next issue.