Bono has urged people to dig deep into their pockets and bring hope to the homeless as he led a Christmas Eve busk in Dublin's city centre.
U2's frontman and guitarist The Edge joined dozens of other performers outside the atmospheric 19th-century Gaiety Theatre in the heart of Dublin's main Grafton Street shopping district.
"As the buckets go around, fill them with silver, fill them with hope - the season of hope," Bono said.
Bono and The Edge were introduced as "two lads from north Dublin", the culmination of a parade of Irish talent.
Bono urged all the other performers onto the stage, and said anyone with a guitar and a soul was welcome, adding: "This is very special for us, you should be proud of this."
Almost 10,000 people are without homes this festive season in Ireland, support group Focus Ireland has said, a major political issue a year out from a general election.
Sofa-surfing, sleeping in hostels, cars, tents and in street doorways is an acknowledged problem.
Despite a booming economy evidenced by the bustling crowd of Christmas Eve shoppers, affordable new houses are not being built quickly enough and rent rates have risen significantly, campaigners have claimed.
