Sky Arts Awards honour Bob Geldof and Sally Rooney

The Sky Arts Awards took place on Tuesday evening at London's Roundhouse venue in Camden, featuring Irish honourees Bob Geldof of The Boomtown Rats and author Sally Rooney.

Geldof was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award. He was presented with this accolade by Queen drummer Roger Taylor.

"In a period of cusp of change - it's not great - I was looking at the mottos as they flashed up on the screen about what the arts can and can't do," said Geldof as he accepted his award.

"But what they can do is focus us to the essential. What they can do is put our experiences into a perspective so that we can look at them afresh, rather than be overwhelmed by the cost of living, by the flags, by the horror of Gaza, or the bloody fields of Ukraine. That's what the arts can do for us. That's what you guys have magnificently done this year. That's what he's (Roger Taylor) done all his life, and what we in The Rats try to do."

Geldof co-founded Band Aid in 1984 alongside Scottish singer Midge Ure, to garner funds and resources for those struggling during the Ethiopian famine. The charity has allocated over £145 million in funds for projects across Africa.

His band, the Boomtown Rats, also performed at the awards ceremony.

Sally Rooney was commended with the Literature Award for her highly acclaimed, best-selling novel Intermezzo, which was released last Autumn. Rooney was not in attendance.

Kneecap were also nominated at the Sky Arts Awards for their latest album, Fine Art, but lost to Lola Young's This Wasn't Meant For You Anyway. Kneecap's feature biopic, Kneecap, directed by Rich Peppiatt, was also nominated in the film category, but was beaten by Edward Berger's Oscar-winning film Conclave. 

• Read the full list of award winners below: 

Classical Music

Bold Tendencies - Body of work

Comedy

Elf Lyons - Horses

Dance

Nederland Dans Theatre and Complicité - Figures in Extinction

Film

Conclave

Literature

Sally Rooney - Intermezzo

Opera

Opera North - Simon Boccanegra

Poetry

Caleb Femi - The Wickedest

Popular Music

Lola Young - This Wasn't Meant for You Anyway

Television

Adolescence (Netflix)

Theatre

LUNG - The Children's Inquiry

Visual Art
Barbara Walker - Being Here

The Times Breakthrough Award
Owen Cooper (Television)

Arts Hero
Diane Carroll

Lifetime Achievement Award
Bob Geldof