Bono describes Irish charity Concern as “badass”

At a fundraising dinner held in New York last night (December 4th), U2 frontman Bono praised Irish overseas aid agency Concern Worldwide for being “badass” in its now fifty-year fight against extreme poverty.

The eulogizing came at the ‘Seeds of Hope’ annual fundraising event, which also doubled up as a celebration of the Concern's 50th anniversary, with Bono leading the tributes to the international NGO.

Ireland's foremost rock star has had a long and strong association to the charity since 1985, where he became friends with the late Fr. Jack Finucane, a leading influential figure of Concern, while on a visit to see famine relief work in Ethiopia.

There were updates from the dinner filtering through social media over the course of the evening, where Bono was described as having an "engaging interview" on stage with Editor-in-Chief of Glamour Magazine Samantha Barry, with whom he spoke about Concern’s work with the impoverished around the world.

Concern’s Chief Executive Dominic MacSorley was on hand to quote Bono - an activist himself - as saying that "Concern is bad-ass . In Ethiopia I saw they worked harder, got paid less and laughed more".

Concern is bad-ass . In Ethiopia I saw they worked harder, got paid less and laughed more. Bono speaks at the @Concern event in New York pic.twitter.com/NEILIfLK93

— Dominic MacSorley (@aidwkr) December 5, 2018

MacSorley went on to report that Bono spoke about extreme poverty being “sexist” and that it “hits women first and worst” during his discussion with Barry, who was interviewed by Laura Whitmore in a recent issue of Hot Press.

The Chief Executive of Concern US (the American affiliate of the Dublin based Concern Worldwide) Colleen Kelly, thanked Bono for his “badass” compliment, adding in a tweet: “Can’t ask for better line than that from Bono.”

A video posted on Concern’s twitter account showed Bono's engagement with the event, as he clapped along to a performance from the kids of the PS154 children’s choir from Queens in New York.

The kids of PS154 in Queens, led by Mr. Carroll, get the audience going - including the one and only #Bono of #U2 - at our annual Seeds of Hope fundraising dinner in #nyc tonight. pic.twitter.com/tFH4cfImmc

— Concern Worldwide (@Concern) December 5, 2018

Concern said that it hoped to raise $2 million (€1.76 million) for their fight against extreme poverty at the gala.