IT’S ANOTHER beautiful day for U2 who retained their status as Ireland’s richest entertainers following a year that saw the band increase their wealth by €15m.
Bono and the gang led the way in the 2019 Sunday Times Irish Rich List with a combined wealth estimated to be in the region of €662m. It comes off the back of a 60-date tour of Europe and North America that raked in €113m for the group and saw U2 named among the highest-earning acts in the world last year.
They came in just ahead of Emmy-nominated Irish actress Roma Downey, 58, and her husband, reality TV kingpin Mark Burnett, who is best known for creating The Apprentice. Together the couple boast a combined wealth of €443m, unchanged from last year’s figure.
The Lord of the Dance, Michael Flatley, completed the top three after a year in which his estimated wealth rose by €2m in 2018, to €232m. It comes after a year in which Flatley wrote and directed his first feature film, Blackbird, which he recently told The Irish Post would be the first of many.
Irish rock band U2. (Picture: Getty Images)Colm Murphy, compiler of The Sunday Times Irish Rich List, said: “U2 are one of the most influential bands to ever come out of Ireland, and show no signs of slowing down. They continue to produce quality albums and attract fans of all ages and from across the world to their live shows.”
Bob Geldof was the most notable new addition to the list with the Boomtown Rats frontman ranked as Ireland’s eighth wealthiest entertainer with a fortune rumoured to be in the region of €57m.
Liam Neeson, Enya, Van Morrison all made the list, while Nial Horan and Daniel Day-Lewis featured in the list of Ireland’s top 10 richest entertainers but fell short of the €57m entry point for the overall 2019 list of Ireland’s richest 300.
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