[caption id="attachment_67323" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Bono arriving at the forum."]
Two of the world's foremost rock stars have addressed the Global Irish Economic Forum, both pledging to do what they can to help the country on the world stage.
Although one of them - U2 front man Bono - is a bona fide rock star, the other - former president Bill Clinton - is seen as the first rock 'n' roll occupant of his office.
The duo shared the stage with business and academic leaders in Dublin Castle this past weekend as part of an Irish government initiative to engage with the global diaspora and develop trade relations.
During President Clinton's "Ireland and the Global Irish in the 21st Century" talk, the 42nd president pledged to host a summit in New York next year to help boost investment in Ireland.
He told business leaders and politicians that they could do more to help rebuild Ireland's reputation on the world stage.
"I may be talking against my country's interests here but American companies have $2 trillion in cash reserves that they have not yet committed to invest in the United States.
"There's money there. I think you ought to target the ones that you know are rolling in dough. These are people who are sitting on money. They know you're a competitive country and they know they can trust you."
Although Clinton praised Ireland for taking steps to meet financial targets set under the EU-IMF bailout, he urged the country to "focus on its strengths" in the export market and to tap into the goodwill of the Irish diaspora.
"I think there are huge numbers of people who are proud of the fact they have Irish heritage but they are not part of these groups right now. They've never even thought of investing here yet, nobody ever asked them to.
"You know you're good at getting investment from America. You know you're good at making Americans love you. You know people in America would 'phoney' their genealogical charts to have Irish roots whether they had or not. This is a big deal."
Meanwhile, Bono took to the stage to say he was willing to hit the road again, although this time would be to resurrect Ireland's reputation.
The singer said he wanted to work for the country in whatever role was asked of him, although he told delegates they had to do more than just play the "Irish card" to succeed.
"I'm torn on the diaspora thing because it is really significant, but in the end things have to be great, not just Irish," he said.
"The tunes have to be great to get on the radio."
The conference also saw the unveiling of WorldIrish.com, an online community for Irish people around the globe.
