Bob Geldof is the third recipient of the IRMA Honours award.
The award, which is organised by the Irish Recorded Music Industry recognises the outstanding talent and contribution of an artist or individual to Irish music.
Previous award winners are Christy Moore and Larry Gogan.
"The last time I came back I was given the freedom of my home town and now the people that I grew up with are here tonight so I'll really be getting the prize from them. There is nowhere else on the planet I'd rather be and no other people that I'd want to be with than those here
"Thanks to the IRMA and the Rats who were a great band. It's great to be Irish and come back and see Ireland suddenly change for the better.
"Irish people used not to be taken seriously. Now we are, in terms of music, as Ireland has become a brilliant place for music.
"The music ones (awards) are the ones that count for me because that's what I think I do. I've got a lifetime achievement in Britain and America and Europe but I've never seen the people who I grew up with or who helped the Rats get started ever be part of one of these things.
"So the people who owned the record store in Dun Laoghaire ... people who helped us at the beginning get gigs, they are all here plus the bands that followed the Rats, like The Radiators, The Pogues, I suppose U2, The Thrills. To have a whole generation who helped make that change in music means more to me than being in London in a posh hotel with people who would be considered major, major stars
"Of course I understand that the Boomtown Rats unto themselves wouldn't get it, that the Boomtown Rats plus my solo thing wouldn't get it - I know that but don't forget that Live 8, Live Aid and Band Aid came out of music.
"I know how to do gigs and TV out of music, so if I hadn't been in this little band from Dun Laoghaire,that cranked up one summer afternoon 30 years ago none of this would have happened."
http://www.irma.ie
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