U2 to play at least one Dublin gig next year as part of new tour

U2 are to play at least one show in Dublin towards the end of next year with young Irish musicians they helped through the Music Generation scheme.

The band made the announcement on their website U2.com as they revealed they will be playing an arena tour for the first time in two decades.

The band will play 19 cities worldwide during its first year with pairs of shows in each city.

Tickets for all shows will go on general sale on Monday next.

The tour is entitled iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE. The north American leg starts in Vancouver in May next year and ends in New York in July.

The European leg begins in Turin in September and ends in France in November. No dates for the Dublin concerts have been announced.

“We are going to try to have a completely different feeling from night one to night two” said Bono, “and have some fun playing with the idea of innocence and experience. More to be revealed!”

U2 have already gone public on their intention to have an arena tour to promote the new album Songs of Innocence which was given away free to all iTunes customers earlier this year.

Bono is still recovering from a serious bicycle crash in New York last month where he shattered his elbow and broke bones in his shoulder and eye socket.

His injuries were severe enough to require three metal plates and 18 screws inserted in an operation which took five hours.

In addition, Bono fractured a bone around his eye socket, his left collar bone is in three pieces - and he also broke the little finger on his left hand.

Orthopaedic trauma surgeon Dr Dean Lorich, who treated the singer at the NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and Hospital, said Bono will "require intensive and progressive therapy - however, a full recovery is expected".

Three years ago U2 gave €5 million to Music Generation, the profits from the three concerts they played at Croke Park in 2009.

U2 stepped in after the then government stated in 2009 it could not afford to roll out a pilot project nationwide which would allow young people to buy instruments and receive musical tuition.

The band provided €5 million with an extra €2 million coming from The Ireland Funds, including a $1 million donation (€760,000) from Bank of America.

Music Generation schemes are operating in 11 different local authority areas.

Some 5,000 children have benefited from it either through structured lessons or through the buying of instruments.

The Edge said U2 decided to lend its name to Music Generation because it would “be enhanced by association” with the band.

“In most cases it isn’t, and it is not appropriate. In this case we really wanted to put our names to this because we feel strongly about it.”